Shattered Reality
by riverofmemories
Summary: As Lucy battles her nightmares, Gajeel, Levy, and Pantherlily set out to rid the world of the one behind them. Joined by someone they never expected to come across, it falls upon their shoulders to stop what could quite possibly be their demise alongside the destruction of Fiore. {Gajeel x Levy}{Spin-off of Shattered Dreams!}
1. Prologue

**. Shattered Reality .**

* * *

 _ ***Warning:** Shattered Reality is a spinoff of my NaLu fanfiction, Shattered Dreams. If you were considering reading SD, I would highly recommend you read it first, as SR will be spoiling the entire plot of SD. Thank you! :)_

* * *

Levy reached across the bar to give Mirajane a tight hug. "We'll be careful," she promised. Mira smiled warmly at her, then glanced up as the door to Makarov's office opened and Gajeel stepped out, red eyes serious. He glanced over to Levy and then gave a grunt, jerking his head to motion for her to join him. Levy bid Mira farewell, then made her way over, looking up at him expectantly.

"Old man says he's gonna pay for travel expenses and whatever we need," the iron dragon slayer told her, crossing his arms. His studded brows drew downward. "What do ya need, shorty?"

"Gajeel, my name's Levy. Not 'shorty'." The solid-script mage scowled up at him, ignoring the sharp gaze watching her from behind the bar. "Anyways, I'll just get what I need and give Mira the bill when we get back."

He said nothing, only shrugged and rested an elbow on her head. An eyebrow twitched in annoyance as he leaned his heavy self against her, her legs nearly buckling beneath his weight. "Better say bye to everyone," he finally said, eyes sharp as he glanced down at her. She met them without a shred of the fear she'd felt long, long ago. "We don't know if we'll be coming back."

Levy couldn't help but shudder at his words, but he was right.

With the primitive magic that the demon had used on Lucy, she didn't have a doubt.

It was more than likely they wouldn't be coming back alive.

* * *

 _School started, so to make myself happy, I wanted to post the first chapter (well, prologue) to Shattered Reality! This will be shorter than SD, and will include a very lovely guest as you all probably know! As stated before, for those who haven't read Shattered Dreams, this is a spin off of that, so go read it! :D This will update every Monday and Friday, so...see you on Friday with the first chapter!  
_


	2. Chapter 1

**. Shattered Reality .**

* * *

The guildhall was completely and utterly silent. Where people would have once been messing around and shouting, fighting over something small, and eagerly snatching job requests off of the request board, there was only a mopey silence. There was simple misery and a grief for the possibility of what might happen. Nobody had the energy to move and do jobs. Nobody had the wish to mess around and party. Not when one of their nakama was near death.

For months now, Lucy Heartfilia had been unconscious. She'd been sent into a coma of some sorts by a curse when a demon had gone after her with malicious intent after a job she and her team had completed. Porlyusica had looked her over, but had said there was nothing physically wrong other than the mark left upon her back, carved there by the mouth of the demon.

Which left them nothing to do but wait.

The waiting was killing her teammates. Gray hadn't stripped his clothes off in quite some time. Erza hadn't shown a longing for strawberry cake. Wendy had rarely smiled. The Exceeds had been silent.

And then there was Natsu.

The fire dragon slayer had been absolutely miserable after nearly killing Gray over what had happened. He rarely left Lucy's side, and if he did, it was only for a few moments at a time. Even now, as she sat there at a table, her chin resting on top of her folded arms, he was sitting up there with her, keeping a close eye on her, especially after the day before, when they celestial mage had stirred but hadn't waken...she shook her head.

Levy didn't want to think about such things.

As if sensing this, a heavy body dropped into the chair beside her, an elbow coming to rest on her head. She puffed up her cheeks in weak annoyance, not having the energy to shove it off. "Can I help you, Gajeel?"

The iron dragon slayer had helped her more than anyone could have through this. With her best friend in some nightmarish land, Levy had been filled to the brim with distress over the lack of information she'd been able to pull in. Lucy should have been awake by now! _She_ , Levy McGarden, should have been able to figure out how to pull her out of the nightmare that nearly killed her every few days! And all she'd been able to do was pull out one bit of information from her books: Lucy would have to realize it was a nightmare by herself before she could wake up, and even then, it was _very_ unlikely she'd live.

Gajeel had been the one to yank her out of the archives and remind her to eat and sleep despite the disbelief others might have. He'd been a gruff jerk about it, yes, but he'd been seeing to it that she took care of herself. Lily was often there alongside him, scolding the dragon slayer about being so rough. She wasn't sure when she'd started going to Gajeel and Lily before Jet and Droy, but she had, especially when she'd needed reassurance that others weren't blaming her for the lack of information.

"You're poutin'," was all he muttered, pulling his elbow away. He ruffled her already wild blue hair, making it even more so, and she glared at him as she fixed her simple headband. Who wanted to spend the time to dress up when nobody was there to gush over your efforts with you? "Told ya hundreds of times, shrimp. Not your fault nobody knows anything about the demon."

"I should be able to find more than I did," Levy moaned in frustration, burying her face in her arms. "I went through every piece of parchment in the archives, the local bookstores, Lucy's place, and even my own collection, and all I could find was that one page that I gave to Master to look into!"  
"He gave that to that weird loner that stopped by," Gajeel muttered. "The one Erza likes."

"Jellal?" Levy blinked in surprise. "I didn't know he'd stopped by again, probably brought Meredy, huh?" Gajeel gave a curt nod and Levy pressed her lips together into a thoughtful line. Jellal had confirmed that it was a demon upon their descriptions - a demon he'd apparently heard of and had already been looking into. It didn't surprise the solid-script mage that Makarov had given the paper to him to look at. He'd probably get a hell of a lot more out of it than they would.

Levy pouted. At least Gajeel had payed Lucy's rent for the next few years - _"Just in case,"_ he'd told her with a huff. _"Just in case she wakes up and can't earn her own money for a while."_

It was one less thing for them all to worry about. Lucy would be grateful, she was sure, and Levy herself was so proud of the iron dragon slayer that she'd spent a good six hours in the kitchen of her place back at Fairy Hills, preparing carefully created food with iron in it. She wasn't that good of a cook, but she knew Gajeel had been appreciative over her efforts.

Speaking of Fairy Hills…

"Ugh," Levy moaned, dropping her head onto the table with a sharp thunk and earning an amused look from her companion. Her rent was due any day now, and she just didn't have the reserves to pay for it without taking a job. Damn, one hundred thousand jewels was a pain when you couldn't go out and earn money by yourself. And when you were busy looking for a way to wake up your best friend.

Gajeel kicked her leg beneath the table - and not lightly, either. She yelped, clutching what would soon probably bruise and glared at him. "The hell's up with your pouting today?"

"I have to go on a job," Levy admitted. "My rent's due." Usually it wasn't her who was suffering with this. Usually it was Lucy. "And Jet and Droy aren't around, so I probably won't be able to make enough. I might need to look for a cheaper place to live until Lucy wakes up…"

Gajeel grunted, red eyes glancing at her before darting over to the overfilling request board. Finally, the iron dragon slayer just snorted and reached out to pluck her up by the back of the shirt she wore. She squawked in annoyance, demanding he put her down - the most loud noise the guild had probably heard in days - and when he did, it was only to shove her towards the request board. "I'll go with you. Go choose a job, shrimp."

Levy stuck her tongue out at him and muttered "jerk" under her breath before making her way over to the request board, pretending she hadn't seen Mirajane's gentle smile in their direction. She shuffled through a dozen or so papers, annoyed by how many there were - not that she blamed anyone. Nobody was in the mood to run around doing jobs at a time like this, not even Laxus, who had taken up to brooding in his own section of the building.

She'd been debating between two - capturing an escaped criminal or escort a relatively wealthy man to his desired location - when a piece of paper in particular caught her attention. Her eyes locked on it and she dove forward, ignoring the bewildered looks sent her way when she tore a few other jobs off to get to it.

The second it was grasped in her small hands, Levy scanned over it, her breath hitching in excitement. It was an older piece of paper, one that had likely been pinned for months with nobody willing to accept it due to the small pay offered.

But to her - and more than likely just about everyone else now - it was the most precious thing she'd seen in a long time.

Clutching it tightly, not wanting to lose it, the small woman darted over to Gajeel, shoving the paper in his face. "This!" she squealed as he grunted, pushing her hands away and taking it so he could look at it with an annoyed look on his face, unhappy with the amount of noise she was producing. "We _have_ to take this, Gajeel!"

He stared at it. "You need rent money, shrimp, and you really think this is gonna pay for it?"

She rolled her eyes, plucking the paper back out of his fingers with a scolding look. "No," she retorted. " _Look_." She tapped a finger over a symbol that had been inked in on the corner of the paper, her hazel eyes full of excitement. "Gajeel, don't you remember?" she said excitedly. "This is one of those symbols that was on the page I found about Lucy's curse!"

The iron dragon slayer peered closer at it, searching his memories, but came up blank. He hadn't looked at the page for more than a moment before Levy had been crying for his cat to fetch the guild master and alert him that something had been found. He'd believe the bookworm, though. "Something that might help Bunny Girl, then? Good. Tired of Salamander's attitude."

Levy grimaced. Natsu hadn't been exactly a pleasant person the day before...he'd been frustrated when Lucy had shifted in her sleep. It had been the most movement they'd seen in months, and he'd come screaming downstairs about it to Wendy, only to be disappointed when nothing else happened. "We need to tell Master, and probably Natsu, too...he'll be glad to know we've found something for once."

Gajeel simply propped his heels up on the table, folding his hands behind his head, not seeming to care about the way they tangled in his wild black hair. "Knock yourself out, bookworm. Let me know when it's time to leave."

Levy puffed her cheeks up in annoyance, tempted to kick the chair out from under him as he leaned back in it. "Gajeel," she pleaded, "At least sign the job out with Mira while I let them know. _Please_? And we need to get Lily, I know he'll want to go."

Gajeel studied her out of the corner of his eye, taking in her pout and the hopeful gleam that had appeared in her eyes. "...fine," he mumbled, annoyed that he couldn't find it in him to refuse the solid-script mage.

"Thank you," she said happily, reaching out to pat his arm with her small hand before leaving the paper on the table in front of him and scrambling off, ignoring the curious looks sent her way. She scrambled up the stairs, grateful she wouldn't have to wait for Makarov to make his way up to where Lucy was. The master of the guild had already gone up there not too long ago to see how she was doing and speak with Natsu.

She didn't bother knocking or entering quietly. Lucy wouldn't wake up - as much as she hated to think that - and she doubted Natsu was sleeping. He didn't sleep very well or often now a days. She ignored the annoyed look the dragon slayer look as he glared at her, instead grinning at the startled Makarov. "Master," she said breathlessly. "I found something."

Natsu's annoyed look vanished instantly. "You did?" he said hopefully, casting a look over his shoulder at the unconscious Lucy. "What'd ya find, Levy? Can you wake her up?"

Levy's smile faltered. "No," she admitted, chewing on her lip as she dropped her gaze. "It's not much now that I think about it...there may not even be results that come from it. But I found a job on the request board." Her voice filled with determination and she smiled gently at them both. "It had a symbol that was on that page I found a while ago. I think there might be something involving what happened to Lu there. So Gajeel and I are going to go look into it."

Makarov finally spoke up. "I am glad that something else has been discovered, my dear, but are you sure that just you and Gajeel will be enough to handle the demon if it's there?"

"We're bringing Lily," Levy said with a shrug. "And I think the less people, the better." She glanced at the silently thinking Natsu. "We don't want to be spotted or get figured out before we can gather the information we need, you know? We have so little as it is...we don't know what we're walking into. The only thing on the request is a prize and the location."

"Perhaps it's best for us to contact those that made the request and look further into it before you take it," Makarov murmured, looking uncertain about the matter. Levy bit her lip unhappily at the idea.

Natsu clenched his jaw. "They could have ways to wake her up, Gramps!" he snapped. "Let 'em go! You said so yourself - Luce doesn't have...she doesn't have a lot of time…" He trailed off, eyes flashing with anguish, and Levy's resolve hardened.

They would go, even if Makarov disagreed. It might mean getting kicked out of the guild, but she needed to do _something_. "Master," she pleaded. "We'll be careful. Please. This might be Lucy's last hope." She gazed pleadingly at Makarov, hands clasped in front of her chest. "If we can't find anything, we'll come straight back. I promise. Besides. Gajeel would never let anything get the better of both of us." This was said confidently. Levy believed in the iron dragon slayer. Despite his previous actions, she knew without a doubt he'd keep the two of them alive. "I'd invite you, too, Natsu, but I don't think you and Gajeel can get more than a step without fighting and Lu needs you."

Natsu's face dropped in a pout, though a look of relief replaced it immediately. He didn't want to leave Lucy. Ever, if he had anything to say about it.

"...fine," Makarov sighed, shaking his head with an amused look. There was a dark look hidden there, though, and Levy's own gaze became serious. "Be careful, and think before you act. If you don't believe you are capable of dealing with this on your own, send word, and I will send Mira, Erza, Laxus, or even Gildarts to assist you. I am claiming this mission as S-Class due to Lucy's condition. Nobody else will know. Is this clear, _Natsu_?" he added, shooting the dragon slayer a look.

Natsu scowled. "But the rest of our team-"

"Am I clear?"

"...yeah. Whatever, Gramps," Natsu growled, glaring for a moment before looking away, clearly unhappy that this would be kept from his team.

Levy understood why, however, and smiled gently. "It could make the situation even more dangerous if the others learned and tried to rush in to help, Natsu," she explained. It would be hard enough as it was without Gray and Erza barging in, and she knew them. They would try.

Natsu grunted in response, wandering back over to sit beside Lucy. Makarov said something about going to speak with Gajeel about the matter, and Levy followed Natsu. When the dragon slayer frowned curiously, she said bluntly, "This is going to be dangerous, and we don't know if we're even coming back."

He accepted that answer and sat back to let her see Lucy.

Levy gently rested her hand on Lucy's thin arm, grimacing at the pale complexion of her friend's face. Lucy had lost a lot of weight - mostly muscle from not moving around - since going unconscious. Her face, rather than glowing with life and happiness as it once had, was still and ghostly. Levy smiled gently. "Hey, Lu. Don't know if you can hear me or not, or what's going on in that head of yours, but I found something that might help you. Gajeel and I are going to go look into it, okay? Just hang on for a bit longer. We're working on waking you up, I promise." She paused. "I better get going. Natsu," she said, addressing him now.

"What?" His tired onyx eyes locked on hers.

"Make sure she stays alive," was all Levy said, giving him a faint smile before heading for the door. She'd do her damn hardest to make sure that they found something that would help Lucy.

Levy made her way down the stairs, pausing to look around the guildhall for Gajeel and Makarov. Mira, seeing her, waved her over. "Gajeel's in Master's office with him," she explained. "I logged in your job for you two. As soon as Gajeel's done in there, you two are allowed to head out. Is Lily here already?"

Levy shook her head. "We're going to have to leave later today," she mused. "I have to stop by Fairy Hills and pack a bag, and Gajeel has to grab some things and Lily."

Mira's eyes twinkled with amusement. "Enjoying some time with Gajeel, are you? I've noticed you two sticking near each other as of recently...do you have something to tell me, Levy?"

"Don't you start," Levy said firmly, though a smile lit across her face. Mira's mood was lightening at the idea of finding something new about Lucy's condition, too. It wouldn't be long before the others of the guild started questioning it. "It's not like that, Mira. We don't have time right now to do such things."

"Just let us girls know when you need to get ready for a date," Mira chimed back as she reached over to dry a glass that she'd recently cleaned. Her hands worked in decisive and quick movements as she dried it, and she paused to glance at Levy with suddenly serious blue eyes. "Please be careful, Levy. Most of us have begun to accept that...that Lucy might not wake up, as much as we hate it. And we don't want to lose you or Gajeel or Lily, too. Okay?"

Levy reached across the bar to give Mirajane a tight hug. "We'll be careful," she promised. Mira smiled warmly at her, then glanced up as the door to Makarov's office opened and Gajeel stepped out, red eyes serious. He glanced over to Levy and then gave a grunt, jerking his head to motion for her to join him. Levy bid Mira farewell, then made her way over, looking up at him expectantly.

"Old man says he's gonna pay for travel expenses and whatever we need," the iron dragon slayer told her, crossing his arms. His studded brows drew downward. "What do ya need, shorty?"

"Gajeel, my name's Levy. Not 'shorty'." The solid-script mage scowled up at him, ignoring the sharp gaze watching her from behind the bar. "Anyways, I'll just get what I need and give Mira the bill when we get back."

He said nothing, only shrugged and rested an elbow on her head. An eyebrow twitched in annoyance as he leaned his heavy self against her, her legs nearly buckling beneath his weight. "Better say bye to everyone," he finally said, eyes sharp as he glanced down at her. She met them without a shred of the fear she'd felt long, long ago. "We don't know if we'll be coming back."

Levy couldn't help but shudder at his words, but he was right.

With the primitive magic that the demon had used on Lucy, she didn't have a doubt.

It was more than likely they wouldn't be coming back alive.

* * *

Levy took a final look around her room, studying all of the books that were still piled around it. She grimaced at the stack she had yet to read and reached up on her tip toes to grab the top one. She wanted a book to read on the train anyways. She doubted Gajeel would be very chatty, even with the Troia spell Wendy had agreed to place on him. They hadn't told her what job they were going on, of course, only that Gajeel would _need_ a long-lasting Troia spell.

Wendy had only smiled and told them she would place one that would last as long as she possibly make it last.

She wasn't sure how they'd have gotten Gajeel to agree to go on quickly moving modes of transportation for a week otherwise.

She and Gajeel had agreed to meet at the train station, which was little over a ten minute walk from where she was now. A five minute run if you had to hurry.

And she needed to hurry.

Levy shoved the book into her bag and practically sprinted out of her room, only closing it behind her rather than locking it. What was the point of locking it? There was nothing of interest for anyone to steal...unless they liked rare books. And Erza would put a stop to anyone who tried to break into her room.

She sprinted through the streets, her short legs making surprisingly large strides as she rushed through Magnolia to get to the train station. She got there just as some clock struck six in the evening, meaning that she was just in time. Panting for breath, Levy navigated through the evening crowds that had arrived on the most recent train or were preparing to leave on the next one. She surveyed the crowds as she walked, looking for the iron dragon slayer that easily towered above them all.

And then, quite suddenly, she was yanked up into the air by the back of the shirt she'd chosen to wear. She yelped, not having to look over her shoulder to see who'd grabbed her. "Gajeel," she hissed, knowing fully well that he'd hear her over the noise of people. "Put me _down_."

"Gihihi!" he snickered as he set her down beside him. "Careful not to get lost, shrimp, you're easy to lose."

Levy's cheeks flushed in annoyance and she turned to greet Pantherlily and Wendy, who'd been accompanied by Charle. Wendy planned on performing her Troia spell just before they left and would be escorted home by Charle afterwards. Lily made himself comfortable on Levy's shoulder so he wouldn't have to use his magic for simple things such as flying around. "Preservation," he told her when she glanced questioningly at him. "We'll need to have all of our magic stores full just in case."

Levy silently agreed. "Did you get our tickets?" she asked Gajeel, finally turning her attention back on him.

He snorted. "As if I'd forget. Here." He slapped three pieces of paper into her hand and Levy tucked them safely into her messenger bag after checking what time they left. "Okay, kid," he said, flexing his shoulders. "Better get that spell of yours going 'cause we leave in ten minutes."

"Okay," Wendy agreed, smiling hugely at them. There was a darkened look in her eyes, though, and Levy gazed gently at her. She knew the youngest dragon slayer in Fairy Tail was feeling as guilty as her. While Levy felt as if she should have been able to find more information, Wendy felt as if she should have been able to heal Lucy and stop any of this from happening.

As Wendy placed the Troia spell on Gajeel, Levy dropped her voice to speak with Lily. "What do you think, Lily? Do you think we'll find something?"

Lily looked thoughtful as he answered in his deep voice, "Maybe. It's possible. I think it's more possible that we're going to end up in a fight for our lives, though."

"Me, too," Levy agreed with a sigh. "This demon scares me," she added, admitting her fears without pause. The Exceed wouldn't mock her unlike certain other people nearby. Especially because she was the one that comforted him through the thunderstorms that terrified him. "Look what it did to Lu...If one of us gets stuck, it might be a bit different because we'll know, but how do you tell those kind of nightmares from reality?"

"I don't know," was Lily's answer. He looked troubled as he watched Wendy finish up. "We'll just have to be careful and make sure it doesn't get us."

Levy hummed her agreement.

"Be careful, wherever you're going," Wendy told them as she stepped away from Gajeel, who was watching the arriving train carefully despite the spell he'd received. "I...I kind of overheard a little of your conversation with Natsu and Master," the young girl admitted, tapping her ear. "It's hard not to hear stuff like that...and Gajeel was talking to him, too. I know it's going to be dangerous. Good luck."

Levy blinked, then smiled warmly at the small girl. "Thank you, Wendy. Watch Natsu for Lucy, okay? Make sure he eats and at least tries to get some rest."

"I will," Wendy said confidently.

They bid farewell to Wendy, and then the trio made their way towards the train. Levy had to fight back laughter at the look on Gajeel's face as they handed their tickets over and stepped on. "Oh, calm down. It won't affect you for a while. And if it does, let me know. I'll see if I can come up with a spell to help you out."

Gajeel grunted in response, but said nothing.

Lily sighed. "Stubborn."

Levy gave a small laugh. "I'd say."

They found a decent place to call home for the next few hours. The train cart was decently sized, with several booths for several people. Levy ended up in a seat across from the iron dragon slayer, Lily not hesitating to plant himself in her lap, looking eager to read the book that she pulled out of her bag. She giggled. "I don't know if you'll like this one," she told him. "It's a pretty girly one."

"It'll occupy my time and that's all I need," Lily answered, making her laugh again. Gajeel watched the two of them curiously, listening to her laughter until a thought struck him.

If he wasn't careful, he might be the reason her laughter became nothing but a memory.

His eyes narrowed at that.

He wouldn't let that happen. Even if it meant his own life.

Levy hesitated, clearing her throat as she glanced up at Gajeel from under her eyelashes. And then she began to read aloud. Her voice was soft and Lily fell silent, his eyes following the words on the page as she spoke them, relaxing in her lap. Gajeel crossed his arms, slouching in his seat, pretending he was ignoring the solid-script mage's soothing voice. There was something about it that threatened to lull him into the world of sleep. And he wasn't exactly eager to sleep when they were heading into a situation that might cause their deaths.

Levy beamed as she read, pretending not to notice the fact that most of their train cart was probably listening in, too. The story was one she found slightly amusing in regards to the characters. It was a story about a dragon imprisoned by a spell placed on it by an evil mage. The dragon was ordered to kill the queen of fairies, a powerful woman who had been his enemy for quite some time. With no other choice, the dragon had attempted to do so, but had failed when he had underestimated the queen.

 _"The fairy queen, tiny in comparison to the magnificent creature before her, stepped back,"_ Levy read aloud, her voice soft and warm, as if she had fallen in love with the novel. Gajeel snorted at the idea; it wouldn't surprise him if she had! _"Pitying him, she gave a wave of her delicate hand and told him, 'So long as you agree to never again attack my home, then I will rid you of this spell.'_

 _"'Please,' the dragon answered, 'I will never attack your home again. I did not wish to to begin with; it is the black mage that ordered me to do so.'_

 _"'Then it is the black mage I will take my revenge on,' the fairy answered simply._

 _"The magic fell off of the dragon in sheets of beautiful silver and gold, as if a massive waterfall had washed it all away. He roared his freedom to the open blue skies, and then turned back to the queen of the fairies, who'd watched him with a gentle smile on her face._

 _"And in that moment, the dragon fell in love."_

A snort from Gajeel had Levy blinking, and then casting him a dirty look. "What?"

Gajeel was giving her an annoyed look, and Lily returned it tenfold, appearing to have been enjoying the story Levy had been reading aloud. "Dragons don't decide on what they like that easily, short stack. Takes 'em a while. And stop giving me that look, Lil'. You're not supposed to side against me."

"Then don't interrupt when Levy's reading," the Exceed retorted, making Levy giggle. She was exceptionally fond of him, and she went to no lengths to hide it.

"I suppose you would know," Levy mused. "Do you have something you like, Gajeel?"

A pause.

"Mind your own fucking business, shrimp."

Levy exchanged a grin with the equally amused Pantherlily and went back to reading aloud.

* * *

 _I was gonna update this morning, but forgot! I'm so sorry! Anyhow, here's the first chapter... Thank you to reviewers (Ayrmed, KaUiA, BlessYourStar21, Gothazon, and MysteryLuvsCompany) as well as to favoriters and followers! See you on Monday!_


	3. Chapter 2

**. Shattered Reality .**

* * *

Levy had to fight back the laughter that threatened to bubble out of her lips as she and Lily watched their companion try to catch his breath and rid himself of the headache that had come with being forced to remain in moving transportation for so long. The Troia spell had worn off after a few days of travel, and Levy had been unsuccessful in coming up with her own version of it, so Gajeel had been forced to deal with the motion sickness all dragon slayers dealt with.

Ignoring the growl sent her way, Levy patted the iron dragon slayer's arm gently. "Come on, Gajeel. We'll take a break and wait to keep moving until you feel better…"

He shrugged her touch off. "I'm fine, shrimp," he spat, glowering at her with piercing red eyes. But Levy ignored him, waving for him to follow her with his cat still spread out on her head.

 _Traitor._

Still, the iron dragon slayer trailed after them, carefully watching everyone and anyone they passed. They had absolutely no idea as to what they were walking into, so they needed to be careful. And he wasn't planning on letting anything happen to the midget of a woman walking only a few feet in front of him.

Because unlike Salamander, he was prone to murdering people when he was pissed off.

Levy seemed clueless to the fact that any of the people around them could be the reason her best friend was currently unconscious and going through her own personal version of Hell. Or the solid-script mage, unlike him, was really good at hiding her suspicion.

A throb in his head made him clench his jaw, red eyes hardening so that a few people scurried out of Levy's path.

"Fucking vehicles," he snarled to himself, making Levy giggle upon overhearing him.

It didn't take them long to find a place suitable for resting and planning what to do next. Levy found them an empty place just outside of town, beneath a tree. He dropped down to settle among the roots, leaning back and drawing up a knee to rest his elbow on it. She seated herself beside him, only a few inches away. Lily shuffled off of her head and into the grass between them, piping up in that deep voice of his, "What next?"

Levy dug in her messenger bag, pulling out the crumpled request. "It doesn't say anything," she muttered, smoothing the wrinkled paper. "Literally all we have is a location and prize...we don't even have a client to check out. What do you suggest we do, Gajeel?"

Feeling a hell of a lot better now, he glanced over, giving a grunt. "Find who the hell sent the request first."

Levy hummed her agreement, sucking her lip in to chew thoughtfully on it, completely unaware of the eyes that followed the movement. Lily smirked at the dragon slayer upon seeing. "Okay. So we'll-" She paused, glancing at him. "Scratch that. _I'll_ go around asking about people who might have put the request in. You and Lily can go check the town out, see if you can find anything suspicious."

"Lil' is gonna go with you," Gajeel disagreed.

"Do I get a say in this?" the Exceed muttered, though neither seemed to notice.

"Okay," Levy replied, not seeming bothered by this. She smiled brilliantly at Lily, then moved on. "After we figure out what's going on, then, we'll figure it all out. What we're going to do, anyways. We can't exactly figure that out until we know what we're dealing with."

Lily narrowed his eyes as he contemplated this. "We should alert the guildmaster that we've arrived," he told her. "He'll want to know, as will Natsu, I'm sure. They'll want to be kept updated on our progress here."

Levy murmured her agreement, reaching into her bag. "I'll write a letter now...we'll need to stop in the post office to check and see if anyone in there knows anything anyways." She dug out a piece of paper and a pen, tapping her lip thoughtfully for a moment before scribbling it out. After she was done, she read the letter aloud:

" _Master,_

 _We arrived safe and sound. We're currently searching for the sender of the job as well as anything else that might be considered odd. We'll inform you as soon as we have more information on the symbol or demon's whereabouts._

 _Wish us luck!_

 _Levy, Gajeel, and Pantherlily"_

Gajeel snorted, arching a single studded brow at the solid-script mage. "As if I would say something like anything you put in that letter, shrimp."

She shot him a glare. "He'll know who wrote it," she retorted, "So shush. Come on, we need to get moving...when and where should we meet up, Gajeel?" Her glare became a charming smile that flashed across her face, wide enough to draw a smirk from him.

 _Damn_ it was hard not to react to that happy attitude of hers! She must have been seriously happy about finding even something this small about the Bunny Girl's condition. "Just find this spot, shorty. I'll come around eventually."

"You better. Come find us if you find anything," Levy told him, standing up and brushing herself off. Levy held Lily, glancing at Gajeel with a final smile. "See you later." She waved, then headed off with Lily in hand, murmuring to the Exceed with a decently happy look on her face. "Come on, let's go drop this letter off and get to work…"

Gajeel watched after them for a moment before finally hauling himself to his feet, a scowl on his face. His nose was good, but even he sometimes had problems finding scents in a place full of people like this. So it would take him a while to go through each and every scent. Which meant he'd be a while.

So, with a sigh, Gajeel went to work, slowly shifting through each and every scent he came across.

 _Damn it, shrimp...you better be careful…_

* * *

"Ugh," Levy moaned nearly three hours later, stopping to rest at the edge of a fountain. Lily made himself comfortable on the stone beside her, looking up at the solid-script mage with a concerned look. He knew Gajeel had put him in charge of her safety - there was a reason the iron dragon slayer had wanted him to go with her - and he fully intended on living up to his friend's trust. "We've asked almost everyone in that section of town and _nothing_ …"

"Patience," Lily replied reassuringly. "We'll find something soon enough, Levy...look how long it took you to find something new about that curse."

"True," she admitted. She looked up at the blue sky, pursing her lips together. "I wonder...do you think Gajeel's find anything yet?"

"Maybe. We'll have to meet with him to find out. We'll head there when the sun starts going down, I doubt he'll come back any sooner than that. And if he finds something, he said he'd come find us. Nothing to worry about there." Levy tapped her chin thoughtfully, crooking her head and tucking a lock of blue hair behind her ear. She'd taken her headband out a few moments before and hadn't bothered to replace it just yet.

"So we've got who knows how long before we're done for the day," Levy murmured, furrowing her brow as she set to work on putting her headband back on. Her hazel eyes darted over to meet Lily's. "Ready to go?"

"Yes," the Exceed answered, letting Levy pick him up. She'd offered to let him fly around, but he'd rejected the offer. _"I need to be ready to fight at a moment's notice,"_ he'd explained when she'd questioned why - again. _"It uses up great amounts of my magic reserve to use my larger form."_

Levy hugged him briefly - it was _really_ hard not to hug the Exceeds when you were holding them, particularly the ones you liked - and then started forward, messenger back swinging at her hip. A few curious looks were cast her way, but she ignored them, heading for a larger shop that was on the corner of the street.

She stepped inside - and immediately froze up, the blood leaving her face. "Oh, dear," she breathed, and Lily shuddered his agreement. He, too, could feel the magic power that filled the building, threatening to crush them beneath its weight. Levy's grip tightened nervously around him and he didn't say a word.

For the first time in months, Levy McGarden was scared. She contemplated walking back out, going to find Gajeel, and _then_ coming back, with the man that would make sure nothing happened to her, but she knew without a doubt that the one behind the magic would find that motion obvious. So she sucked in a deep breath, murmured, "Be ready to _move_ ," and carefully made her way further inside.

"Be careful," Lily warned.

Levy made her way to where the register and the owner of the shop was, smiling faintly at him. "Hello," she greeted carefully, narrowing her eyes just barely when she realized this man wasn't the one spilling so much power about. _Then who is?_ she wondered. "I'm a mage from Fairy Tail, and I was wondering if you knew who might have sent this job request to our guild…?" She slid the crumpled request over the counter to him.

The man studied the paper for a moment, then shook his head, giving her an apologetic look. "Sorry," he said with a soft sigh. "I don't know who would have sent this to your guild...this town doesn't really have too many issues. We haven't had need of a guild's assistance in years."

"Hm...how strange," Levy murmured, taking the paper back. She jumped when an elbow descended upon her head, a heavy weight accompanying it, and felt a flash of relief. Gajeel was here. Good, maybe they could figure out what was going on with the magic. She smiled at the man. "Thank you, anyways."

"Levy."

She ignored Lily, waving for Gajeel to follow her. He did so wordlessly, just as she expected, tucking Lily safely against her lacking chest - she grimaced. Why did she _always_ come back to that?

"Levy!"

She really needed to stop… Levy snorted. She should have a pity party over it with Wendy. She knew the younger girl was somewhat upset over the same thing. Maybe they could mourn over it together.

" _Levy!_ " Lily's urgent snarl had her snapping out of her thoughts, looking down at him. Only then did she realize he was bristling, struggling to escape her grip and glaring at the one walking beside her. She released him on instinct, and shock had her staring up at the man beside her as Lily took on his battle form.

It certainly wasn't Gajeel, like she'd thought. That was for sure. The man was tall, taller than Gajeel, with silvery hair that seemed to be as wild as her dragon slayer's, cropped so that it stuck up at random. His eyes were a glowing red, skin darkened by endless days in the sun. Several piercings - even more than Gajeel's face supported - dotted his face in a similar way to Gajeel's, and when he smirked at her, his fangs were _much_ larger. Each hand supported a glove of black leather, and each wrist was circled by a cuff of iron. Most of his large form was hidden by a cloak that was the color of iron - and she realized it was _made_ of iron a moment later when he shifted and it shimmered in the light.

Lily growled, glowering at him, and the man snickered, voice low and practically rumbling with the power that radiated off of him. "Stand down, Pantherlily," he growled, "I'm not here to harm the little fairy." He eyed the small solid-script mage hidden behind Lily's large form, as if he was looking _through_ Lily, and suddenly, Lily's battle form was gone, the sword he usually carried just as small. Levy straightened, ready to move and attack if necessary.

Which only made him laugh again. Levy listened to the sound in slight awe, amazed by how similar it was to the sound of rocks scraping against each other. He gave her a feral grin. "The brat's got himself a little fairy with a bite then, eh? Fine with me. I don't think you'd win."

Levy's gaze darkened nervously, and she searched her mind for any idea as to who she was looking at. He definitely knew them. She carefully studied him, refusing to answer for a moment before it suddenly hit her, like she'd been smacked in the face with a wall of iron.

"... _Metalicana_?" she breathed, her eyes snapping wide with astonishment when he smirked, giving a curt nod.

"Smart, too? Brat's picked his chosen one well." Metalicana glanced over his shoulder, crossing his arms - which, she was startled to see, also supported those strange piercings, just like Gajeel's arms. "Should know better to leave little fairies alone when there's demons about, though."

Levy focused immediately, her eyes darting around. "You...you know what's going on? Why we're here?"

Metalicana grunted, rolling his eyes. "Mavis needed some help getting into...what does he call her...Bunny Girl? Needed some help getting into Bunny Girl's head. Didn't have the power to do it, and there's a certain fire-breathing fucker who wouldn't help even though it's _his_ son's chosen one who is in trouble…"

Levy's lips parted in her surprise. _Igneel refused to help Lucy…?_

"Guess he had a good reason though." Metalicana wrinkled his nose. "Needed to be ready to help her out mentally." At Levy's look of bewilderment, he quickly explained, "You're lucky Igneel knew how to maneuver a soul into another body, little fairy. Otherwise Bunny Girl would be dead right now. Hurts like hell and is dangerous for both people involved, but he managed to do it safely. Even showed himself to Bunny Girl." He grinned a malicious grin that Levy recognized.

Lily, still standing between them with an uneasy look on his face, suddenly said, "Why did you approach us instead of Gajeel?"

Metalicana rolled his eyes again, then locked that piercing red gaze on him. "Your nose wasn't strong enough to pick up the scent? Was a demon hanging around. Not even demons will fight dragons. Brat is probably on his way here now. "

Levy scooped up the Exceed, hugging him for comfort as she silently panicked over the fact that she was here, meeting the dragon that had raised Gajeel while the iron dragon slayer himself probably had no idea what he was walking into. Which brought her mind to another thought.

"Um...Metalicana?" she said hesitantly, her eyes meeting his evenly despite her slightly quivering voice. "How...how are you not…" She waved at his body, indicating what she meant, and he snickered again.

"Takes a lot of energy to do this," he said proudly. "And not a lot of dragons can. Igneel can't. Too much power to contain within such a little body." A sharp look was cast her way. "Doesn't make me weak, little fairy. Remember that. Just because I am capable of shoving all of my magic power into a humanoid body doesn't mean I can't rip someone apart with a flick of my claws."

"Barely keeping it contained, if you ask me," Lily noted. "We could sense you the second we entered that building."

"Hell of an overflow. Majority of it's contained." Metalicana scratched the back of his head, an impatient look appearing on his face. "My brat slow or somethin'? When I left, he would have realized something was off second I stepped outside."

Levy flushed. "He's, err, probably looking for us… I told him to come find us if he found something. So if he did sense you, he'll probably be here soon." Her grip tightened nervously around Lily, who patted her wrist reassuringly, eyes flashing with a protective gleam. He'd keep Levy safe, just as promised. Even if it was against a dragon.

Suddenly, Metalicana cocked his head to the side. "Here we go," he muttered, a pleased tone to his voice - just a second before he turned on his heel, catching a fist that was aimed for his jaw. Gajeel snarled in surprise and fury when he was suddenly pinned to the ground, Metalicana's foot planted on his chest. Two pairs of red eyes glared at each other. "Thought I taught you better than that," the dragon growled, unamused. "Could hear ya coming from a mile away. If you were attacking the demon, it would have killed your little fairy by now."

Gajeel answered with a simple growl that sounded more dragon-like than any other sound Levy had ever heard him make. "Get the _fuck_ off of me, old man."

Metalicana glowered down at him, pressing harder, and Gajeel swore softly. Levy, anxious, exchanged a nervous look with Lily, but didn't _dare_ try to stop Metalicana. "Then learn how to protect your treasure, brat, 'cause there's gonna be a day when you'll regret your lack of ability to do so." He finally moved away, ignoring the look of rage that crossed Gajeel's face when he propped an elbow on Levy's head. Levy didn't move, looking at Gajeel helplessly when he scowled at her, sitting up. What did he _expect_ her to do? Yell and scream at the creature that could rip her apart if she offended him?

"Who the fuck do you think you are," Gajeel suddenly bit out. Levy flinched. She hadn't seen that look on his face since before he'd joined Fairy Tail. "To just show up after disappearing into thin air without lettin' me know where you went!? You think just 'cause you taught me my magic means you can just waltz back in and think it's _okay_?"

Metalicana's gaze sharpened into a dangerous look that had even Gajeel dropping his gaze - but only for a moment. "We dragons have our reasons, Gajeel," he hissed out, his voice like screeching metal. Levy winced, and Lily covered his ears. "Don't test me. Be happy Mavis is willing to deal with Igneel's anger. He was pissy enough as it was over Almondine." He made a face of disgust. "Bitch wouldn't follow the rest of us. Had to make sure her brat wasn't gonna blow up and kill everyone."

"I don't _care_ about freakin' reasons," Gajeel snarled, bristling with fury. "You can go ahead and shove it right up your-"

" _Gajeel_ ," Levy interrupted, finally shrugging Metalicana's touch off - hesitantly, she was nervous about upsetting the dragon even further - in favor of hurrying over to where he was climbing to his feet. She grabbed his arm, and he jerked at her touch, looking ready to straight up murder someone. She let go of Lily, who landed easily on the ground, and used both hands to hold him in place. "Gajeel, does it really matter why the dragons left? I mean, he's here for now, and he's trying to help us - I think. The demon's nearby."

Gajeel's gaze snapped to hers and she fought back a shiver at the look of pure murderous rage. "It's _what_?"

Levy gave him a tight smile. "The demon's nearby," she repeated. "Metalicana's presence should keep it away though… he said that not even demons will challenge a dragon." She paused, then glanced up at the mentioned dragon. "Metalicana," she said carefully, trying to make her tone as respectful as possible, "Do you know who sent the job request?"

"Mavis," he answered immediately. "Though it was more of me. I created it, she posted it, knowing it would capture your attention, little fairy. S'why you didn't see it until you did. It wasn't there for as long as Mavis said you thought."

"...just how often do you see Mavis?" Levy questioned.

"Often enough." Metalicana seemed amused, his gaze softened considerably as he gazed at Levy. "I am sure you'll see her shortly...she wants to speak with you about Bunny Girl's condition."

Levy blinked.

Gajeel grumbled, and Levy was startled when he tossed an arm around her shoulders, aggressively pinning her to his side. Lily snickered at the sight, looking more than just a little amused. Metalicana only raised an eyebrow when Gajeel demanded, "The demon?"

"Gone for now," the dragon said without a hint of concern. He smirked. "As the fairy said and as I told her, demons won't mess with a dragon any more than you would…" A pause. "I take it back. You Fairy Tail brats decided to try and defeat Acnologia. Be glad the demon isn't like you."

Levy flushed. "We didn't really have a choice about that," she muttered.

"But it will come back," Metalicana continued as if she hadn't spoken. His gaze traveled across the three of them, hardening as it rested on his adopted son's face. "I know answers to questions you don't even have yet. But this is not a safe location to discuss what needs to be done to save Bunny Girl and deal with the ones behind the attack. Nor is any human inn. Follow me."

Metalicana turned away, not waiting for any protest before striding forward, drawing the hood of his cloak over his head. Gajeel was reluctant, but one hopeful look from the solid-script mage he still had a tight grip on had him shoving her forward. "C'mon," he muttered. "Follow the fucker. Lil', you keep an eye out for anything weird from the skies."

"Understood," Lily agreed. His wings sprouted from his back and within an instant, he was hovering above them. Gajeel kept a close eye on Levy as they walked, his eyes never leaving her, and it earned him a gentle smile, as if the young woman understood the feeling of unease, as if she knew _why_ he was so pissed off.

The one that had disappeared and abandoned him was back...but what if he left again?

And what if he took that one bit of happiness he now had with him?

* * *

"...you fuckin' kidding me?"

"Gajeel, be nice."

"I'm not staying in a god damn _cave_ , bookworm!"

Levy pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration, looking just barely over to where Lily was waiting impatiently for them to decide what they wanted to do and Metalicana was barely keeping himself from cackling like a crazy old witch. "Where else did you expect him to be staying?" she gritted out. "He's a dragon, remember? He can't stay in town all the time."

"As she said," Metalicana agreed. Levy jumped when the power he exerted suddenly grew exponentially, his appearance seeming to shift and grow, rippling as his flesh became the silver plating and scales of the iron dragon he truly was. He bared his teeth in a grin that gave Levy the chills as she stared up at him in surprise. **"If I were to stay in a human town, the humans would panic."** A pause. **"Hm...perhaps after this is over...I have not had such fun in a while…"**

"I know he's a dragon," Gajeel snapped impatiently. "The hell makes you think it's safer in a _cave_?"

Metalicana lowered his massive head to glare at Gajeel through one red eye, a low growl rumbling in his throat. Before he could speak, however, Lily interrupted, "Gajeel, do you not sense the magic surrounding this place? Someone's set up barriers, similar to Freed's magic...though far more powerful."

"I had them set up."

The gentle voice was one Levy recognized immediately. "Mavis," she murmured as the blonde girl stepped out of the cave, her body giving off a soft glow. Her green eyes sparkled as she took in the solid-script mage, and then filled with laughter at the look on Gajeel's face.

"Almondine owed me a favor," Mavis told the massive iron dragon beside them. When Levy opened her mouth to ask a question, she cut her off. "Almondine is the barrier dragon, one who has mastered the humanoid form a dragon is capable of possessing. Her barriers are powerful, and cannot be penetrated by anything other than a dragon of nullification magic - which, as far as I am aware - has not been found. She agreed to set the barriers up, but only because Metalicana gifted her extra iron the last time they met years ago."

 **"Bitch,"** Metalicana grumbled. **"Wanted nothing more than my iron...used her ridiculous porcupine appearance to convince me."**

Unable to help herself, Levy giggled. It was hard _not_ to laugh when a dragon was complaining about a female not wanting anything other than what his magic created. Gajeel rolled his eyes, purposely messing up his companion's headband.

Mavis smiled warmly, then said to Levy, "I wish to speak with you about Lucy Heartfilia."

Levy focused, smile vanishing. "Is she okay?" she said urgently.

Mavis' gaze darkened. "I have helped her as much as I am capable of. Her Celestial Spirits - particularly Leo - have done their best to help her alongside Igneel. But it is up to her as to whether or not she'll wake up."

"Thank you," Levy murmured, pressing her lips into a hard line.

 **"She is strong,"** Metalicana reassured, **"And Igneel's runt is stubborn. She will survive."**

Gajeel only scowled. "The hell is he supposed to do other than being an ass?" the iron dragon slayer demanded, jerking a thumb over his shoulder in Metalicana's direction.

"Gajeel," Lily huffed, looking impatient with his friend's attitude.

"Metalicana will assist you in destroying the demon." Mavis was serious now, her hands clasped thoughtfully in front of her lips, as if she was praying. "This demon is dangerous and must be destroyed. It is difficult to kill a demon, I'm sure you're aware - Natsu Dragneel and his friends were only able to kill demons such as Lullaby and Deliora due to their weakened states - and I am positive a dragon is able to do it."

Levy scooped Lily up, her eyes sparkling now. It was time to plan. "Why don't we go sit down and figure out what we're going to do? This is going to be a difficult job, and I think it would be best if we planned out what we're going to do carefully."

Mavis nodded her agreement and swept back into the cave. Metalicana followed suit, purposely letting his tail just narrowly avoid smacking Gajeel in the back of the head. Before Levy could go with them, however, the dragon slayer stopped her. "Yes?"

Red eyes furious, Gajeel glowered at her. "Don't hang around that bastard alone, shrimp. Got it? I don't trust 'im."

"I do," Levy said with a shrug. When he gave her a look, she answered it with one of her own. "Gajeel, he's your father. You should be happy he's shown back up. Natsu's going to be upset that Igneel hasn't shown up…"

"I don't care who he is." His eyes flashed. "He left and he should have stayed gone. You're in charge of her, Lil'. An' I don't care if you're my cat or not, I'll kill you if one hair on her head is harmed, you got it?"

Lily blinked. "Sure."

 _Finally_ , Gajeel let Levy go, and she gave him a dirty look before heading inside. Gajeel waited a moment, studying the cave suspiciously, and then followed suit.

He _dared_ anyone to lay a hand on his shrimp.

If anyone did, they'd be nothing but chunks of what used to be a person.

Because he was just _dying_ for someone to kill right now.

* * *

 _YAY! NEXT CHAPTER! In regards to Almondine...I introduce you to one of my four Fairy Tail OCs. :D Was originally going to be her instead of Metalicana that helped them, but Metalicana seemed like a better choice. Hope you enjoyed! Thanks for the reviews (Ayrmed, ilftnatsu, and 567random), and thanks to all of those that favorited and followed!_


	4. Chapter 3

**. Shattered Reality .**

* * *

Levy nibbled at the roll she'd been given to eat, her eyes thoughtful as she stared at the flickering flames. Lily was curled up in her lap, munching on his own dinner, and Gajeel was grumpily chowing down on some iron he'd brought with him, his red eyes darting to glare angrily at the slumbering dragon that had dozed off. Metalicana had taken up residence between them and the entrance to the cave, claiming that it was better than leaving it open to people or creatures that might decide to spy.

Her mind racing, Levy went over the information they'd learned, churning over ideas that might be usable for their plans later on when they were ready to move.

The demon was protected by a group of dark mages that were known for worshipping Zeref - not something that surprised Levy. What concerned her, however, was that they didn't have a single clue as to what they were walking into in regards to their magic. Which meant it was going to be dangerous. Gajeel was all for leaving her behind - he'd voiced that opinion out loud, and she'd been _furious_ with the idea, threatening to throw away the remainder of the iron he'd brought.

Metalicana had made a snide comment about fairies that could bite, and _that_ had earned the iron dragon a dirty look from Levy.

Lily had settled it by reminding Gajeel that _someone_ needed to make sure Levy was safe, and he wasn't sitting back. And neither was Metalicana, who needed to be there to deal with the demon.

Mavis had informed them of the location of the demon and the dark mages. Apparently, they were occupying a building they'd built for themselves. Not all that difficult to deal with - if it wasn't surrounded by a labyrinth filled with traps of dark magic.

And naturally, they couldn't just ride in on a dragon. There were sensors of some sort surrounding the entire place. If they set one off, the place would disappear, as if never there, only to reappear in a completely new location who knew where.

Thank the heavens for the noses of dragons and their adopted children.

Levy took another bite, furrowing her brow in thought, studying the notes she'd taken throughout their discussion with Mavis. The blonde girl had run off, disappearing to who knew where to see if Lucy was doing okay. She'd been fine with it.

Gajeel? Not too much. _"Take the old lump o' iron with ya, why don't you? We don't need help. Perfectly capable of taking a demon down myself."_

Gajeel supported a rather large bruise on his chest from where a large iron-scaled tail had slammed him into the ground. She glanced his way, frowning to herself at the dark look on his face. She cleared her throat to capture his attention. "Gajeel?" she said, voice soft, echoing in the cave. "Can I talk to you? Alone?"

His eyes studied her for a moment before he grunted, swallowing his mouthful of iron and standing. He didn't bother to wait for Levy to come to him, instead saying bluntly, "Oi. Old man. Move it. The shrimp wants to have a little chat."

"Gajeel," Levy whined in exasperation.

Metalicana's massive body shifted without a word, tail sweeping - and knocking Gajeel's feet out from under him in a single movement. Levy had to stifle her giggles at the look on his face. **"Taught ya to be polite, brat. Ask. Don't demand."**

"Fuck off," he growled in response as he climbed to his feet, shoving Levy past the iron dragon. Metalicana watched them go with one eye, his teeth bared unintentionally as he grinned nastily at Gajeel, as if he was enjoying his son's attitude.

Levy hugged her arms, tilting her head as they walked a decent ways away - to get out of a dragon's hearing range, anyways. It was further than she had to walk when she wanted to talk to Lucy in private and Natsu was around…

Gajeel finally stopped, glancing at the small solid-script mage. She smiled up at him without hesitation, then demanded, "What's your problem with Metalicana? I would have thought you'd be happy...why are you being a jerk?"

The iron dragon slayer blinked at her sudden change of attitude. Finally, he scowled and grumbled out, "Look. Just 'cause he came back doesn't mean I have to be happy, Levy." She blinked at the use of her name. "Bastard abandoned me, jus' like the other dragons abandoned their kids. You'd be pissed off, too. Left behind with no reason...huh." He sneered, crossing his arms. "And he's only here to help Bunny Girl. That supposed to make me happy?"

Levy's gaze softened considerably as she said gently, "Maybe not, but he's still here, isn't he?" The iron dragon slayer shrugged, jaw working furiously as he gritted his teeth. She leaned back on her heels, thoughtful. "Maybe if you were a bit nicer, he'd answer your questions."

Gajeel made a sound of annoyance, his eyes glaring at her. "Like hell he will. He's a pile of junk metal, shrimp." Levy had to fight back her snicker at his supposed insult before he suddenly grabbed her chin in a grip that made her wince, forcing her to tilt her head back so that a calloused finger could roughly trace a rather nasty looking scar under her chin. " _He is the reason you have these_."

He released her chin, and she rubbed it with a grimace before glancing down at the equally bad scars on her arms and legs, the ones that stood out on her chest, back, and hips, and even thought about the ache she still got in her lower back when the weather changed. The memories of how she'd gotten them came, running through her mind, and rather then shuddering in fear, she smiled warmly at the iron dragon slayer, who looked furious with himself.

"Gajeel," she said sharply. "I've moved on from that - I moved on long ago. And you've proved yourself thousands of times. Look what you're doing now! You're helping me. Besides." She beamed. "I trust you. Maybe even more than anyone else in the guild."

He ignored her, slamming the bottom of his iron-studded boot against a tree, watching as it toppled over beneath the force. "If he hadn't left," Gajeel snarled, red eyes blazing with fury. "I wouldn't have turned into a monster. I wouldn't have agreed to work with Jose." She fell silent, letting him have his moment of rage. "I wouldn't have nearly killed _you_."

His gaze suddenly turned on her and she gave an involuntary shiver. Even if she knew he wouldn't hurt her, there was a glint in that gaze that admittedly frightened her. "Do ya even know what I _did_?" he said suddenly, voice low. "I nailed you to a fucking _tree_ , Levy. I beat the hell out of you, nearly killed ya. _Would_ have killed you _willingly_ and enjoyed myself."

Another tree fell beneath Gajeel's anger and he was suddenly tugging viciously at his dark hair, as if ready to rip it from its roots. "I don't care what I've done to make up for it, woman. Doesn't matter what I do. Gave myself the same wounds I gave you, made 'em even worse than yours, and it didn't do _anything_. Nothin' will _ever_ fix what I did, and it's because of that _fucking bastard_ that it happened!"

Levy's brow drew downward as she listened, her attention locking onto one thing in particular.

 _"Gave myself the same wounds I gave you, made 'em even worse than your's, and it didn't do_ anything _."_

"Gajeel," she said softly, reaching over to gently grab his arm, stopping his small rampage in its tracks. His eyes snapped to hers, studying her face carefully. "What do you mean you gave yourself the same wounds?" He clamped his mouth shut, looking away. " _Gajeel_!"

Grumbling under his breath, Gajeel shook her hand off, then ripped one of the gloves from his hand, letting the iron cuff that was usually wrapped around his wrist fall off with it with a simple flick of his fingers. He shoved his hand near her face, and Levy gently grabbed it, lowering it so she could see better.

Her eyes widened.

His fingers were clear of damage except for the occasional wound that came with fighting. His knuckles held heavy scarring, the skin thick and calloused from fighting. Clearly, he was rough when it came to the force behind those punches of his, even with the iron he wore over them to protect them. It was his palm and the back of his hand that caught her attention, however, and held it. There were several circular scars, as if something sharp had been slammed through his hand multiple times, and she could see the nasty scarring left by something that had carved the Phantom Lord symbol into his palm. Levy shuddered; it would have had to be carved multiple times to leave an impression like the one she was looking at.

He kept his gaze averted. "Like I said," the iron dragon slayer muttered. "Made 'em worse. Didn't want to forget what I did. Not that I would have anyways," he added under his breath.

Levy gently ran her fingers over the Phantom Lord emblem. "Gajeel," she murmured, "You didn't have to go _this_ far...is your other hand like this?" He gave a curt nod. "This is...you…" She was speechless, unable to come up with something to say about this discovery.

He took his hand back, slipping his fingerless glove back on, snapping the iron cuff back around his scarred wrist. "Made ya suffer. Needed to make up for it."

She looked up at him, and he blinked when he realized there were tears sparkling in her eyes. His own snapped wide. "Are you... _damn it,_ woman, don't cry! The fuck are you crying for!?"

"You're an idiot," Levy sniffled. She held her hands over her mouth, tears rolling down her cheeks.. "Y-you shouldn't have d-done that t-to yourself."

Gajeel rolled his eyes and muttered, "No big deal, woman. Doesn't hurt now. Point is: it's his fault. And I'm not gonna forgive him for it." He shifted, looking uncomfortable at the sight of her tears when she didn't stop. Finally, he demanded, looking flustered and frustrated, "Stop crying!"

"S-sorry," she managed to get out, swiping at her eyes. She took a deep breath, then released it in a shaking sigh. "But...you really...you really should stop being so _angry_. M-Metalicana has his reasons for disappearing, I'm sure. He wouldn't have left for no reason. And I think he'd tell you why he left if he could."

"Yeah, whatever." Gajeel scowled, not looking the least bit amused as he glanced around, popping his neck. "Time to head back, bookworm. Before that heap of scrap metal comes looking for us."

"Okay," Levy agreed. She fixed her headband, tucking a stray lock of wild blue hair beneath it and tugging on one of the pieces that hung on each side of her face before studying his face for a moment. A studded brow rose in curiosity at the look on her face.

"Whatcha lookin' at, shorty?" he demanded.

"Nothing," she answered. Levy smiled at him slightly, and then quickly moved closer, rising onto her tiptoes and pulling him down slightly to gently press her lips against his cheek. He sputtered in surprise and confusion, uncertain of how to respond, and Levy gave another laugh before heading back in the direction of the cave, her cheeks tinted a slight pink.

Gajeel took a moment to gather his thoughts before stomping after her, swearing under his breath.

Metalicana wore a sly look when they got back, but neither of them said anything. Levy only bid everyone goodnight, and then went to sleep.

* * *

The next morning found Levy tired yet refreshed after a full night's rest. While sleeping on the floor of a cave wasn't all that nice, Lily had been kind enough to lend her a sleeping bag he'd packed. _"Just in case,"_ he'd told her firmly when she'd asked about it during their travels. In gratitude, she'd let him snuggle up with her in it, and she'd been grateful for his warm little self. A cave wasn't the warmest of places, even with a dragon keeping most of the chilly wind out.

Gajeel, on the other hand, had decided against sleep. Not that it seemed to bother him. The iron dragon slayer was still giving Metalicana, who'd returned to a humanoid shape with a great amount of effort, dirty looks, as if he was mistrustful of the dragon.

Levy couldn't really blame him. Who wanted to believe that a dragon had come back after so long?

Munching on some of their provisions, she scanned the information a final time. "Okay," she murmured after a few moments of this. Her eyes darted up, locking only briefly with two sets of red eyes before returning to her paper. "We'll have one shot at getting the demon taken care of, alongside handling the mages. Metalicana, we've already decided you're going to handle the demon...or I should say that you decided that. Gajeel, you and I will deal with the mages. Lily," she continued, addressing the Exceed. "I want you in the sky, looking for anything that might catch us off guard."

"Understood," Lily murmured from his place beside her.

Metalicana suddenly spat, and Levy jumped when a piece of metal slammed into the ground beside her feet at high speeds, sending sparks up. Gajeel shot him a glare for that, but Metalicana didn't seem concerned, instead growling, "There will be more than just a few black mages...even if my brat is a dragon slayer, are you capable of such strength?" Metalicana rolled his eyes...and then grinned when Gajeel snapped.

The iron dragon slayer was attempting to slam a fist into his jaw in an instant, growling under his breath. Metalicana merely caught his fist with ease, red eyes glowing dangerously. "Don't start fights you certainly can't finish, brat. If you cannot defeat me, then how do you plan to survive this?"

"Gajeel." The dragon slayer glanced back at Levy. " _Enough_."

Levy's voice had lost any of its previous warmth, her face flushed in a furious red. Gajeel took one look at her face, then grinned, a chuckle escaping him as he pulled back, eagerly awaiting what his shrimp was going to say. Lily, wary, retreated to stand beside him.

Levy did not disappoint.

She stalked up to the exceptionally tall dragon, jabbing him in the chest sharply with her finger, cheeks puffed up as she hissed, "You know _nothing_ of what we Fairy Tail mages are capable of. We have survived what you can't possibly even _dream_ of. Where were _you_ when we survived Acnologia's assault?" She glowered, jabbing him again. Metalicana's grin only grew, as if he was amused with the small woman's anger. "We have come back from the brink of death on _several_ occasions. We survived the Eclipse Portal, when we had to fight your kind. All three of us have fought dragons, and we were able to keep them at bay until the Eclipse Gates were closed. Others of our guild have defeated some of Zeref's demons, and a few of them have even confronted Zeref himself! So to _hell_ with your doubt, because we are capable of strength not even _you_ have."

Silence.

Then-

Metalicana threw his head back and howled with laughter, the sound biting to their ears. "Damn, so the little fairy's got some serious bark, then." His eyes flashed. "So how well does she bite, brat? I'm sure you'd know. You _do_ share your nest with her, right?"

The look on Gajeel's face was one Levy would never forget. Embarrassment and annoyance battled on his expression before it finally turned into flustered anger. "Shut it, you shitty pile of scrap metal!"

Metalicana only smirked broadly at his adopted son. "Look who's talking, you fucking brat."

"Okay, _enough_ with the bad language!" Levy wailed, shooting Lily a look of desperation. Why wasn't he helping her in this? He only held up his paws.

There was no way in _hell_ he was getting into the middle of this.

As Levy pouted at Lily, the Exceed snorted and said, "So are we still going with Levy's plan then? If not, we need to come up with a new one. I'm sure she wants to get this done quickly so we can go home and see how Lucy is."

Levy hurriedly nodded her agreement. "Yes. So now that certain dragons and their slayers are done being jerks," she said sharply, shooting furious looks at both. They looked remarkably alike as they cast their gazes downward. "Are we going with my plan are not?"

"Not a bad one," Metalicana mused, cracking a massive yawn. "I was serious though, little fairy." Red eyes flashed with darkness. "Have you fought a demon before? You claim your friends have, but your friends aren't you."

Levy pressed her lips into a hard line. "We haven't," she admitted.

"A demon is different than a dragon. Particularly this one." Metalicana shook his head, iron cloak fluttering around him. "Dragons are large creatures, rarely able to attain a humanoid figure...demons...there's far more of them that have large amounts of power and can do what I can." The iron dragon waved at himself. "The sucker's gonna be fast, little fairy. You'll have to be faster. Especially if ya don't want to end up like Bunny Girl."

Levy bit her lip thoughtfully for a moment, then asked hesitantly, "You...you know a lot about what happened to Lucy, right?" The dragon nodded carefully. "How did you find out about this? I want to know more about how you and the other dragons are involved, _why_ you're involved…and I want to know what you know about the curse placed on her. I want to know _everything_ you know." Mavis had explained a lot to them in regards to the demon and the dark mages they were to face. But she hadn't explained a lot of things that Levy thought necessary to know.

Metalicana's red eyes flashed with surprise. "Are you serious?"

"Just answer her questions, old man," Gajeel muttered.

"I must admit," Lily agreed, his gaze serious as he looked up at the two Fairy Tail mages and the iron dragon. "I would like to know as well. It could be good for us to know such information. It might help us in some way in the nearby future."

"It could take all day," he warned. "We may have to go through with the plan tomorrow if I explain what I know."

"Then so be it." Levy settled herself back onto the ground, forcefully dragging Gajeel down alongside her. He grumbled, and she quietly scolded him as Lily moved to sit beside his friends. Metalicana gaped at them all, looking astonished as she looked up at him expectantly. "Explain."

Metalicana scrubbed his hand down his face, exasperated. Finally, he just carefully knelt down in front of them, curling a lip in annoyance. "Fine, you brats, I'll talk. I'll start off with how we came to know.

"Mavis is the founder of Fairy Tail," the iron dragon began. "She is also a guardian of some sorts. She guards and protects each of you fairies. So, she is aware of whenever one of you is in life-threatening danger. Sometimes, like situations with that one girl in your guild, the little white-haired one, she can't do anything. Some deaths must happen. But in situations like Tenrou, or now, when you need to be alive, she will interfere.

"Mavis sensed that something was wrong, and did not have the power herself to do much." Metalicana rubbed the back of his head, his pierced brows drawing downward. "Almondine...she's already been out and about, hiding herself from the dragon slayers we left behind. Her daughter has some...we'll leave it at issues. She has issues. So she's been watching over her. So Mavis contacted Almondine, explained what had happened, and Almondine contacted Igneel. Don't ask how, don't ask where the other dragons are hiding or where I was, I won't tell you. It is not for you three to be aware of just yet. In due time, you'll learn. Igneel is powerful, even more so than I. I will admit this. But he wouldn't come out his hiding hole to help her. Instead, he said he'd work from the inside.

"So Mavis came to me. She needed someone to help her. Igneel needed his strength for other reasons. I lent her some of my power, and she used it to discover the location of the demon that had attacked the blondie. She then requested I help her in destroying it and ensuring her guild's and the celestial mage's safety.

"The problem, we discovered, is that the demon's curse can only be broken if the person affected realizes that they are under a curse. I have been working around this area, learning as much as I can about the demon and the black mages that protect it, and I only recently learned why Igneel refused to come out of hiding.

"Where Igneel is hiding is a place that I can't even consider because it would mean the death of someone I care for." Metalicana's voice grew rough, as if he was irritated to say so. "But for Igneel...it is possible, and only because of a strength that not even the person he is affecting is aware of. I won't tell you more than this warning: beware the strongest of Zeref's demons, brat." Metalicana's gaze was fiercely angry, his gaze dangerously lit. "No matter what you do, you won't be prepared for what happens."

Gajeel only snorted, resting his elbow on Levy's head and leaning heavily on her with a smug look. "Like anything can take me by surprise."

"I'm serious," Metalicana warned, then moved on. "Anyhow… I won't tell you where Igneel is, or where the rest of the dragons are hiding, but if he hadn't been able to switch the blondie's soul into another body for a few moments, she would have died. The demon would have won.

"Moving on, after we were sure the demon could be killed, I had Mavis post the job you found. There won't be any money involved, I'm afraid, but I'm sure you're not too concerned about such a thing, little fairy. I was sure that someone would notice, and you did. That is how _I_ became involved. Mavis will be needing more of my power soon. She wants to speak with Bunny Girl in person, and doesn't have enough power to cross the curse on her own.

"As for _why_ I chose to get involved…" Metalicana gave a grin, showing off his fangs, red eyes dancing with amusement. "I agreed 'cause I didn't feel like seeing my brat's chosen mate suffer when her friend perished."

Gajeel's look of horror was _nothing_ in comparison to the flustered and shocked look Levy wore. Her face turned the color of Erza's scarlet hair, her brown eyes immediately dropping to her lap as she fiddled with her hands, her small form drawn up tensely. "Ignore him," Gajeel growled, then scowled darkly when Lily chuckled, amused.

"I'm sorry," the Exceed mumbled, still smirking slyly. "But the looks on your faces...it's quite hilarious to look at."

"You're supposed to be on our side," Levy whined, burying her face in her hands.

"Nonsense," Lily told her, "I'm on no one's side. I'm just enjoying myself."

Metalicana roared his laughter, the sound grating on all of their ears. "Ha! The looks on your faces! This is great!" He doubled over, still laughing loudly, his eyes gleaming with amusement. "Igneel's gonna love this!"

"Shut _up_ old man!" Gajeel demanded, his face turning nearly as red as Levy's.

"The curse!" Levy wailed, "Tell us about the curse so we can pretend this didn't happen!"

Metalicana wiped the tears from his eyes, grinning broadly as he said, "Sure, sure." He gave a final chuckle, then turned serious almost immediately after. "The demon, as stated before, is one of Zeref's demons. It's not one of the more important ones, but it's one of his nonetheless. It specializes in curse magic, just like any other demon, but it uses an archaic form that comes from before even the dragons.

"The demon carved a mark upon the blonde's back." Metalicana began to draw in the dirt with care, making a detailed replica of the mark all had already seen. "It's the demon's mark and the center of the curse. Besides the mark itself, there is no physical evidence of anything happening besides the coma your friend now finds herself in.

"But mentally...it delves into your mind. The magic drags out your worst fears, twists them to make them even worse than before, and sets to work. It creates a nightmare that you live. You can't tell reality from dream, and you believe the nightmare is real. And the _second_ you give up? You die. The mark fills in as you go along, playing with you. It doesn't really have anything to do with when you die, but it messes with your mind. If you know something's happening with it, if you worry that you'll perish when it's completed, then you're more likely to give up and die, simple as that.

"For Bunny Girl, her worst nightmare is being alone again. She doesn't want to lose the guild she now calls her family. And she doesn't want to lose Igneel's brat particularly. Even as we speak, she's fighting to keep that little fiery bastard alive - and she won't succeed." His gaze darkened. "I believe she's lost everyone but the little fire dragon slayer at this point. You two perished before Grandeeney's little one."

"How?" Gajeel demanded, looking annoyed by this. "Can't have possibly keeled over before Wendy. What about my cat?" He glanced down at Levy, no longer leaning on her after the embarrassing moment from a few minutes before. "And I wouldn't have let shrimp here get herself killed."

"In this nightmare, there are these creatures that have been labeled as the Marked." Metalicana's gaze became dulled, almost blank. "They spread these Marks by touch...the water mage managed to catch them and turned on you all. In the process, both of you were touched by the water. The Marks spread quicker when you used the ability you acquired throughout your fight with the shadow dragon slayer, and it wasn't long after that you killed your fairy before being taken down by Bunny Girl's Celestial Spirits and Igneel's runt. Pantherlily was killed quite a while before."

Silence filled the air, and there was a stunned look on the iron dragon slayer's face. Levy looked as equally startled, her brown eyes wide and her face as white as a sheet. "He...killed me?"

"The disease twisted his mind, little one" Metalicana murmured. His voice was surprisingly gentle, nearly soothing. "He was no longer Gajeel."

Gajeel's gaze snapped to Metalicana in surprise. For the first time since meeting with the iron dragon, Metalicana had used his name. His gaze darted back to Levy when the solid-script mage gave a soft sound, and panic flashed through him when she shakily hurried to swipe at her eyes. Lily gently patted her knee in reassurance, and Levy pulled him into her lap as she murmured, "I'm alright. Sorry. It's just...why did they have to…"

"I am aware," Metalicana said slowly, "Of how you first met my brat, little fairy. Perhaps this curse drew on the nightmares of the others around Lucy Heartfilia as well as her own."

"I would never hurt Levy," Gajeel snarled, looking furious with everyone at the moment - particularly himself. His hands clenched into fists, his fingers digging into his glove-clad palms. He gritted his fangs, especially when Lily quietly spoke up.

"I was not here when you were a member of Phantom Lord, Gajeel," Lily murmured. He glanced up at the angry iron dragon slayer. "But I know of what you did. And we all know such a thing will never again happen."

Levy reached over with hesitant fingers, gently grabbing Gajeel's hand. She pried his fingers away from his palm, smoothing it until his hand lay limply in hers, her touch gentle. She smiled faintly without looking up at him, noticing the way his tensed form relaxed beside her. "Continue, please. I'd rather not linger on this."

Metalicana pressed his lips together, hesitating before continuing again. "As said, the curse twists your worst fears. At a point where she nearly gave up, Igneel was able to shift her soul into another body for a short amount of time. It saved her life.

"There's something else." Metalicana leaned forward. "Those of another realm are not affected. When Bunny Girl summons a Celestial Spirit from their realm, it is not a copy that she is seeing, but the real thing. The curse has seemed to realize this and twisted it further. If she summons a Spirit, it gives them limited time before forcing them out, taking away the items she uses to summon them. At this point, she has no Celestial Spirits left to summon. A few of them tried to warn her, I think, particularly that weird lion one, but…" The dragon shook his head.

"She'll be fine." Levy's voice was soft, but her words were firm. "I believe in Lucy. And now that we know all of this, I think we'll be able to avoid getting ourselves into unnecessary trouble when we leap into this battle head first." Her dark eyes raised to lock with Gajeel's. "There's one thing we need to make sure doesn't happen though."

 _Do_ not _let the demon sneak up behind you!_

* * *

 _Whew! Chapter Three is just brimming with information, yes? :D Anyhow, the bit about Gajeel's hands is something my lovely editor came up with and I loved it, so it was put in. Hope you enjoyed! Thanks to reviewers (KaUiA, Ayrmed, and ilftnatsu), along with those who favorited and followed! :)_


	5. Chapter 4

**. Shattered Reality .**

* * *

After taking so long to discuss Lucy's predicament, the group decided it would be best to just wait for the next day to go through with their plan. So they went over the little details, Levy making sure there was nothing that would go wrong despite knowing better. She knew that something would happen that they didn't want. It always did.

The solid-script mage was running her fingers over her notes, checking through it, when an arm came to rest on her head, messing her blue-hair up and knocking her headband and the glasses she wore askew. "Gajeel," she protested.

He only grunted, leaning over to look at the notes over her shoulder. "The hell you doing, shrimp? You've looked at this a billion times already."

Levy flushed, glaring up at him as she swatted his arm away, adjusting her headband and removing her glasses. "I want to try and keep anyone from getting hurt, thank you very much. I came up with the plan, so if something happens to one of you, it'll be my fault."

Gajeel snorted. "We've got a _dragon_. The hell makes you think anyone'll get hurt?"

"Logic." Levy pressed her lips into a hard line, letting her gaze dart up to meet his. He searched her eyes for a moment before shrugging. "No, I'm serious. Gajeel, this creature was able to get Lucy when she had some of our strongest mages with her! Mind you, she ran out alone because of Gray, but still! And to top it all off, the demon has black mages defending it!"

He shrugged. "We'll be fine. We've got the old man, woman. Trust me. We'll be fine. Not like we have to kill Acnologia."

Levy shuddered at the name, then looked over when Lily spoke up from where he'd been sitting beside her, studying the plan, too. "Listen to her, Gajeel. We can't be too cautious. Even with a dragon on our side, it's likely that one of us could be seriously hurt, maybe even killed or put under the curse by the demon. And if one of those dark mages has nullification magic…"

"Then we fight without magic." Gajeel folded his hands behind his head. "But you made the plan. We'll be fine. Haven't seen you fuck up to the point that we're dead yet."

Levy's cheeks flushed pink. "Oh, hush. Come on." She folded up the paper, tucked it into her bag, and then stood. "I want to go into town for a little bit. I finished the book I was reading and want to see if I can find another to read for when we're just sitting here…"

"You finished it?" Gajeel was surprised. "When? Haven't seen you read since we got here."

"I finished it when you were practically half-dead on the train," Levy giggled, offering to pick up Lily. But the Exceed held up a paw, refusing.

"I'll stay here," he told her. "Someone's gotta stay with Metalicana and keep an eye out for Mavis if she returns. I don't believe he'd be able to keep track of the details of such a matter."

 **"I will have you know,"** the dragon growled from his place at the entrance of the cave, his red eyes glowing with annoyance. **"That I am not completely incompetent."**

Levy smiled slightly, then asked, "You want to come, Gajeel?"

The iron dragon slayer snorted, rolling his eyes. "Someone's gotta make sure you don't get yourself into trouble. Come on, let's go." He stalked towards the entrance of the cave, pausing to give Metalicana a look until he shifted himself to allow them freedom to leave. The second both of them were outside, Metalicana was shifting again, hiding the entrance. Levy paused to study the appearance from the outside of the cave. It looked as if a massive metallic ball had lodged itself in the entrance when in reality, most of the dragon was on the inside.

 **"Do not remain outside for too long,"** Metalicana warned in his grumbly voice as they left. **"The demon will not hesitate to approach you, nor will the mages that protect it."**

"Understood," Levy confirmed, calling the words over her shoulder. She clasped her hands happily behind her back, unaffected by the silence between she and her companion. Instead, she chatted happily about anything and everything, commenting on the fact that it was surprisingly warm in the cave in comparison to the area outside, where she could see her breath, and even on the lack of coat that Gajeel was willingly dealing with. _That_ started up a minor argument on whether or not she was allowed to purchase him one.

Upon reaching town, Gajeel took on a defensive stance, keeping close to her and refusing to take more than a few steps away. He reported the lack of smelling anything suspicious, but didn't want to take the chance, resulting in him following her into a bookstore she found on the corner of a street.

A bell rang as she opened the door, stopping to let Gajeel past before letting it swing shut behind them. She danced inside, her brown eyes already sparkling happily. Gajeel wrinkled his nose. "Reeks of paper and ink in here, shrimp."

"Amazing, right?" Levy beamed, making her way over to the first of many shelves. "This is a nice bookstore for such a little town…" She ran her fingers across the spines of the books, carefully reading the title of each one. "The books are taken care of."

Gajeel eyed her. "Who the hell cares if books look nice?"

"I do," she retorted, shooting him a small glare. "Books are special, Gajeel." Her voice softened. "People put so much of their time and effort into them, so much of their ideas and emotions. They're like a portion of someone's life in writing. It's their passion, just like our passion as Fairy Tail mages is to help others, and I think it's important to take care of what people have worked so hard to make."

The iron dragon slayer listened with hidden curiosity before shrugging. "Whatever ya say, shorty."

Levy smiled at him brilliantly before turning back to the books, reaching to for one to examine. Gajeel, sure she wouldn't notice, eyed her body from where he was standing, enjoying the way the jeans she wore hugged her hips.

And then Levy turned to glare at him, hands going to her hips. "Gajeel," she said warningly, and his red eyes went wide. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Rather than protesting like a lot of others would have, Gajeel only smirked, his signature chuckle escaping him as he looked up. "Gihi! Enjoying the view. Got a problem with it?"

Levy's jaw dropped. " _Gajeel_!"

"What?" He shoved his hands into his pockets in search of something before extracting a few chunks of iron he'd brought with him. He stuffed a screw into his mouth, chomping down without hesitation. "You have a good ass."

Levy's face turned scarlet. "D-don't say stuff like that," she whined. "Especially not out in public where people can hear!"

"Oh?" He leaned in suddenly, placing his elbow on her head and staring into her eyes. "So I can say it when we're not in public then?"

"You're killing me." Levy buried her face in her hands. "Gajeel, come on, stop!" _And since when did he feel the urge to_ flirt _? ...or whatever this is._

"Nah," he answered, snickering at the look she now wore. "It's fun. 'Sides." He raised his suddenly furious red eyes to glare at a man that had looked ready to approach, his gaze just daring him to come over and talk to his shrimp. "Fucker needs to realize you're not available."

Levy glanced over her shoulder with a frown, then scolded, "Well that's not how you let people know, Gajeel. And since when did you decide I'm not available? The last time I checked, I was."

He ruffled her hair with his gloved hand, smirking again. "I dunno when you got the idea into your head that dragons are willing to share, woman, but you better get rid of it 'cause we don't."

Levy stared at him in shock, then huffed softly. "Gajeel," she mumbled, "I'm not a possession. You can't just talk like I'm some-"

He cut her off by covering her lips with his. Levy tensed in shock, unable to believe what was happening as he lightly gripped her chin to keep her from turning away. He was surprisingly gentle, his lips soft against hers, and when he pulled back a moment later, the solid-script mage stared at Gajeel in a small daze, astonished. "G-Gajeel…?"

He glanced away, voice gruff. "What? Might get ourselves killed on this mission, and I'm going to Hell anyways. Might as well make it worthwhile." He pulled away completely so that he wasn't touching her, then crossed his arms with an impatient growl. "C'mon, woman, get a move on and pick out a book. This place is boring."

"Jerk." But Levy wore a smile on her face, quickly picking out a book within moments and heading to the front of the store to pay for it. The cashier eyed the iron dragon slayer nervously as Levy paid, and looked relieved as the two left.

As they made their way down the street, Levy happily reached for his hand, smiling brilliantly up at him when he glared at her for it, but let her do it anyways. "You know," she mused suddenly, voice soft as she raised their clasped hands, her fingers brushing over the cloth that hid the scars. "I wonder...maybe we could see if Porlyusica could heal them…"

"No." Gajeel jerked his hand out of hers, stepping away with the sharply spoken word. "I'm not gonna get rid of 'em, Levy. Reason for having 'em hasn't gone away, so they ain't going away. Got it?"

"Sure," Levy sighed, shifting the book in her arm, disappointment flashing across her features. She didn't enjoy knowing that he bore scars that were a thousand times worse than the ones she showed. But she said nothing more, instead hugging the book in her arms.

They remained quiet as they left town. Levy didn't try to touch him again, and Gajeel didn't bother to look her way though he did make sure she didn't get too far away. When they reached the cave, neither were surprised to see a humanoid Metalicana standing at the edge, watching for them. The iron cloak he'd been wearing had been left in the cave, leaving him in an outfit consisting of a ratty old shirt with the sleeves torn off, loose pants held up by a simple belt, and tightly laced up leather boots. Levy silently contemplated the ideas she had on _why_ he was dressed so similarly to his son, but stopped when she saw the serious look on his face. "What happened?"

"Mavis stopped by," Metalicana answered, straightening. "She decided to wait for you to return before telling Pantherlily what's happened now."

Levy pressed her lips together and rushed inside the cave, Gajeel easily keeping up. Metalicana fell into step beside his adopted son, his voice dropping low as he growled to him, "They know we're here, brat. Your emblem was spotted by one of their mages."

"How the hell do you know what they saw?" Gajeel demanded.

"Does it matter?" he hissed back. "Worry about stupid things later, there are other, more concerning matters at hand."

"Mavis!" Levy called when she and Lily came into sight. Lily looked worried, though a little relieved when his friends appeared. Mavis' green eyes darted towards them, her expression grim. Fear struck Levy. "Is Lucy okay?!"

"Lucy Heartfilia is safe, as are the rest of Fairy Tail," Mavis murmured, shaking her head so that her long blonde hair fell around her face. "I was able to contact Lucy Heartfilia, and help her. I believe she will realize what is wrong before it's too late, especially after I reassured her that Natsu Dragneel is safe in the physical sense."

"So what's wrong?" Gajeel demanded, crossing his arms with a sharp look.

"We have learned of the demon's and mages' goals," Metalicana gritted out, waving for them to sit. Levy seated herself carefully on the ground, and Lily didn't hesitate to take her lap despite Gajeel's warning look. The iron dragon slayer slouched beside the short woman, his red eyes never leaving Metalicana. "Almondine has been keeping an eye on these mages as well, though we have no _fucking_ idea why."

"When are we actually going to meet her?" Levy demanded. "You keep mentioning her and how she's helped, but why can't we actually meet her? We're already chatting with one dragon, and I'm sure she'd be able to help and make this a hell of a lot easier for us."

Mavis sighed. "Almondine does not care much for the rest of you. I am using quite a few favors for this, as is Metalicana...though she has agreed rather readily. She's been cooperative, though it's not surprising."

"So there's another dragon helping us for some reason you don't know about?" Gajeel demanded. "What if she's working with them?"

"There was no need to worry about such things," Mavis said simply, clasping her hands in front of her mouth, green eyes lowering to the ground. "A double agent has informed me that these mages have used the demon to perform this curse on many mages. It takes a little of the magic of its victims. They have been gathering the magic of their victims, and they have finally obtained the rare celestial magic. All they have left to gather is that of a dragon slayer. And my source reports that their next aim is a dragon slayer. A dragon slayer's magic will be powerful enough to complete their goal."

"Their goal?" Lily questioned, tail twitching.

"They want to summon Acnologia," Metalicana spat out. "They think this is a damn good way to do it, and they're not wrong. Acnologia will willingly come, but...if they think he's going to spare anyone's lives, they're wrong."

"Almondine has agreed to inform Igneel," Mavis said softly. "But there is not much Igneel and the other dragons can do."

"The _demon_ wants to summon Acnologia?" Levy asked, her voice shaking. Her face had gone white, filled with fear at the thought of the dragon. Gajeel gave a low snarl, his glare full of dangerous darkness.

"It must believe that this is something Zeref would want." Mavis' voice was full of grief, and Levy studied the pained look that flashed across her face momentarily. "But Zeref...I do not understand. I know Zeref does not like to kill."

"For all we know, it might be Zeref behind all of this," Metalicana said gruffly, shaking his head. "Don't blame yourself, Mavis."

"What do we do?" Levy demanded. "We _have_ to stop this."

"We go through with your plan," Gajeel growled. "Tonight."

"They'll have the advantage in the dark," Lily disagreed. "It would be best to wait for the morning, Gajeel."

"I agree," Levy said firmly.

"They already know we're here, right?" Gajeel glanced at Mavis, who gave a curt nod. "So it's not like we're going to have an advantage of surprise. We'll have to attack before they can come here. And there's still a while before the sun goes down, ain't there?"

"Gajeel Redfox has a point," Mavis admitted, earning a scowl from the iron dragon slayer when she said his last name. "But Pantherlily and Levy McGarden do as well. And I am unable to assist in this. Metalicana, do you think-"

"Nah. Porcupine's got better things to do. Her and Sparky haven't chatted in forever, and she gets pissy whenever I talk to her." Metalicana rubbed the back of his head thoughtfully. "We'll have to do it on our own. Hate to admit it, but I wish that crazy guy with the crash magic was here…"

"Gildarts?" Levy supplied, silently agreeing. Gildarts would certainly be a good person to have with them, but he was gone, off on a job that had them knowing they wouldn't see him any time soon.

"Gildarts, yes," the iron dragon agreed. "Even I am concerned about challenging this demon now...let us hope it doesn't have the ability to use the magic it takes."

"What are we waiting for?" Gajeel demanded, standing swiftly and dragging Levy up with him. "We gotta get a move on. Let's go."

* * *

Lily gave a low whistle as they took in the sight of the space before them, his gaze studying the labyrinth of seemingly harmless shrubbery that filled up what must have been at least a few acres of land. Levy was already on her hands and knees at their feet, drawing out a map from what she could see, and Gajeel was standing close behind her, making sure nothing sneaked up on them. Metalicana was scrubbing his hand down his face, looking exasperated.

"Remember," he sighed. "Don't separate, whatever you do. And if you do get separated from me for some reason or another, stay together. Is this clear?"

"Of course," Levy answered, tucking away the map she'd made and her glasses. "I have this, just in case we get lost in there. It's only a portion because I don't have crazy good eyesight like you do though, and I can't fly either."

The dragon nodded, then suddenly knelt to draw in the dirt with his finger. "If you see this on a person's shoulder," he said, tapping the ground beside the symbol he'd drawn. "It's Almondine. Do not attack her. State who you are and why you're there, and she _should_ help you. If she doesn't, I'll tell Igneel and he can have a fun chat with her, or Sparky when he is able."

"Sparky?" Lily questioned, confused.

"The lightning dragon," Metalicana explained. "That's just what I call him. They're good friends."

"Can we stop your jabbering and get going?" Gajeel snapped, impatient as Levy fixed her headband. "We need to get a move on, or they'll get the first blow."

"Of course," Levy agreed, starting forward. The other two followed, as Lily was resting atop her head to preserve his magic. "You two need to use your noses, though, because my nose isn't nearly as good as yours."

They entered the maze in silence, Levy stepping closer to Gajeel as the darkness closed in on them, threatening to consume them. The iron dragon slayer lightly rested his hand on her back, uneasy in the darkness as he used his better than average eyesight to guide her. Metalicana remained on the solid-script mage's other side, ready to fight at a moment's notice.

The first few twists and turns were silent, peaceful.

Then they ran into a spell. Levy stepped over it before anyone realized it was there, and by the time Metalicana had noticed, Gajeel had already stepped over it as well. A scream pierced the air, and Gajeel swore, flinching at the sound. All eyes snapped around, searching.

"Shit!" Gajeel bellowed suddenly, his entire body jerking, dropping to his knees. Levy panicked, throwing herself down beside him anxiously, demanding to know what was wrong. Metalicana grunted as he, too, went down, his red eyes narrowed furiously.

"What's going on?" Levy demanded.

"Fucking _hurts_!" Gajeel snarled, his voice hoarse.

Metalicana's form rippled, his control over his magic slipping. Before long, a massive dragon towered above them, bellowing in pain as his tail thrashed. Levy squeaked, ducking and covering her head in fear, and Lily scrambled off of her head, landing ungracefully on the ground to avoid it as well. "Watch it!" she cried.

Gajeel swore, his hands trembling with pain as he grabbed her arm and hauled her back, moving protectively in front of her, iron scales rippling across his flesh when Metalicana's tail scraped against him. He clenched his jaw. "Lil', need you to-"

"Who are you and what do you want?" A wary voice had Levy nervously lifting her head, automatically moving to stand protectively in front of the cringing Gajeel. The owner of the voice shifted, her deep blue eyes shining with dark emotion. Blue hair lay wildly in barely visible waves, stopping just beneath her chin, and she wore a red cloak that did nothing to conceal the deep blue cuffs on her upper arms and calves. Two piercings dotted her face: a simple stud on the left side of her lip, and a ring on her left brow, though it didn't really have any effect on Levy after being around the two behind her.

Lily readied himself as Levy answered, ready to protect her. "Are you the one doing this to them?" she demanded.

The newcomer's eyes drifted to Metalicana's massive form, and locked on him. "Oh," she mumbled, dropping her gaze. She gave a wave of her hand, then crossed her arms tightly across her chest as Gajeel gave a wheeze for air, enjoying the lack of pain. "You're the ones that the others were talking about…the iron dragon and the other Fairy Tail mages. You should leave. They're waiting for you."

"And you're helping us why?" Lily demanded.

She watched as Metalicana scrambled for a hold on his magic, shrinking back into his humanoid appearance. "Where do you think your information about this place comes from?" she snorted. "Thin air? I've been working with these idiots for _months_. I think Mavis informed Master, but…I don't think my teammates know." Uncomfortable, the mage glanced nervously at Metalicana, Gajeel, and then locked on Levy. "You wouldn't have heard of me. Only a few mages of Fairy Tail are aware that I exist. I'm Reina. The barrier dragon slayer."

Metalicana snorted. "So _you're_ Almondine's brat, eh? The hell you doing here when they need dragon slayer magic?"

"They think I'm just really, _really_ good at barrier magic," she said with a shrug. "Like I said, they're idiots. The demon suspects me, but no one else." Reina bit her lip. "They know you're coming tonight. It's not safe for you to attack now."

"We don't really have a choice, lady," Gajeel grunted. "Just help us get in and go away."

"Gajeel!" Levy snapped.

Ignoring him, Reina told them, "I'm serious. It's dangerous for you to come. One of them has shadow magic, and is fairly good with their skills. They use it to control your actions. And I'd have to fight alongside them. My magic is nearly as strong as my mother's in regards to nothing being able to penetrate my barriers. You're immediately at a disadvantage."

"Fuck this," Gajeel growled. "Let's go. We gotta try at least. Or do you want Acnologia to show up?"

Reina's eyes flashed with rage. "I don't care whether or not Acnologia makes an appearance, you stupid piece of scrap metal. The only thing I care about is whether my mother and my team is okay...not that I've seen my mother in years," she added under her breath.

"And they won't be if Acnologia shows up," Metalicana interrupted. His red eyes searched hers when she glanced his way. "So you're going to either help us, or we're going without you. The hell kinda magic do they use that makes you think they could take me down?"

"You were just stopped by her barrier," Lily pointed out as Levy scooped him up, ready to move. Metalicana wasn't pleased with this input and shot the Exceed a nasty scowl.

"Fine," Reina huffed. "Get yourselves killed, see if I care. I'm not hanging out to watch though. I was planning on leaving any day now, anyways...I've gotten all of the information I could for Mavis." Reina turned to leave, then paused and squinted at Metalicana. "...you know, there's a good damn reason my mother doesn't respond to your affections. I'm glad she doesn't. Proves she's smarter than a lot of other dragons."

Metalicana only growled and glared after the dragon slayer with a malicious look in his eyes, saying nothing as she left.

Levy hesitated before speaking. "Are we still going to attack? I don't think it would be smart if she thinks it's so dangerous…"

"Oh, shut it," the iron dragon growled, spitting a shard of iron at her feet. Gajeel glowered, jerking Levy aside. In a bad mood now, Metaliana raised his gaze to the building that they were aiming for. "Doesn't matter if it's that dangerous or not, little fairy. There isn't enough time to wait for reinforcements to arrive, and none of the other dragons are going to help us We're on our own."

Gajeel rolled his eyes, then ruffled her hair. "Don't worry, shrimp," he said gruffly. "We've survived worse. I've got your back."

Levy smiled to herself at his words, shooting him a grateful smile before hugging Lily and saying firmly, "Then let's go."

* * *

 _I introduce to you...Reina D'andria Avlos, my first official oc for Fairy Tail! Wasn't originally going to bring her in, but I needed someone for this particular role. Hope you enjoyed this chapter and thanks to reviewers (ilftnatsu, ArouraJean, and Gothazon)_ _and thanks to followers and favoriters. See you on Friday!_


	6. Chapter 5

**. Shattered Reality .**

* * *

To say that it was easy to get to the building was an understatement. They practically waltzed their way up to the front gates - and that made Levy more than just a little nervous. Never in all of her time as a Fairy Tail mage had something like this been so easy. It made both Lily and Gajeel wary, as well, but Metalicana simply walked up to the iron gate and shouldered his way past it, not seeming to notice that it swung open like it had been unlocked.

Levy and Gajeel exchanged a look before the iron dragon slayer nudged her forward, keeping a hand on her shoulder as if he was preparing to yank her back. Lily had changed from Levy's arms to Gajeel's shoulder, balancing with ease, his sword in his paws in preparation. "We should have listened to Reina," Levy said uneasily.

"What point would there have been to listening to her?" Gajeel demanded in a low growl. "They'd know we were coming no matter when we chose to come. We'd be screwed no matter what, short stack."

"Gajeel has a point," Lily agreed unhappily, shaking his head. "There is no chance at a surprise attack."

"Still…" Levy crossed her arms, her dark eyes darting this way and that as they crossed a cobbled courtyard. It was as if they were entering some castle from the books she read, the tall stone walls threatening to cage them in. Gajeel's grip on her shoulder tightened fractionally, his sharp red eyes narrowing as he glanced at Metalicana, who'd stopped to contemplate what to do now.

"They're here," Metalicana told them. "Somewhere in this wretched building...I cannot place where, however."

"We're not splitting up to look," Lily said firmly. "It's dangerous for all of us. That girl mentioned that one of them has nullification magic...are dragons affected by this?"

"No, but it makes it hard to keep this form," Metalicana muttered. "I retain my ability to use magic, but I cannot control it as well. And I need to be in this appearance to capture the demon and kill it. I cannot reach certain places that might need to be reached."

Levy bit her lip. This wasn't good, definitely not good. Without the nullification mage, it would have made their lives a hell of a lot easier, even facing a demon. But nullification magic in general was hard to face against, and that was without the demon trying to attack them every few moments.

Suddenly, Gajeel's head snapped around, his red eyes searching the shadows of the large building. A growl left his lips. "Someone's watching us," he suddenly muttered, glaring. Levy and Lily followed his gaze; Metalicana merely scowled at the ground in thought.

For a moment, nothing happened, and then a shadow seemed to rise out of the ground. Gajeel tensed at the likeness of Rogue's abilities - and his own. He, too, could use such magic, but he didn't enjoy doing it. It was unnatural and uncomfortable to use the Iron Shadow Dragon Mode. But he would use it if necessary. "Hm...we were only one off," a voice hissed from the shadow that had risen. "The cat was not counted."

Lily's tail lashed impatiently at that comment, but he remained ready to attack, clearly not trusting the figure before them. Not that any of them did either. Gajeel's hand was slowly shifting into the beginnings of an iron club, and Metalicana's eyes were sharp with eagerness, as if he was ready for the upcoming battle.

Levy wasn't too enthusiastic about that, especially when Metalicana's claws sharpened further into talons and he leaned forward.

The shadow became a person that stepped into view. Dark hair and just as dark eyes glinted in the light of the slowly falling sun, their black cloak giving them the look of just about any stereotypical villain. Levy wrinkled her nose in distaste at the thought. Did they really think it helped them look evil? This one looked just like a kid, only a few years older than herself.

That didn't make him any less dangerous of course.

"No, but he is now," a deeper voice agreed from above their heads. Levy's head snapped up to study the older looking man that was balanced on the wall that was behind them, his green eyes locked on her. "Pretty little fairy they brought along with them…" He licked his lips, giving them a glimpse of sharpened teeth. "Wouldn't mind getting a taste of this one."

Gajeel gritted his teeth furiously at his words, and Levy winced as his grip tightened enough that she thought he'd break her shoulder. Gently, she pried his fingers of and instead gripped his hand nervously, taking comfort in the action. He didn't move away.

"Stop playing around Kage," a higher pitched, obviously feminine voice snapped. "You, too, Kiken." A woman appeared, her lithe form a good foot or so taller than Levy. She came to a stop only a few feet away from Metalicana, her face hidden by the cloak she wore. Metalicana bared his teeth at her.

"It's not a nice thing to do," a raspy woman's voice added. The fourth mage showed up alongside the third, her graying hair pulled out of her dangerous violet eyes. "Listen to Chi."

"Yes, Rida," the first man, Kage, agreed, dropping his gaze. Kiken did as well.

Rida's eyes swept over the group, the iciness of her eyes making Levy shudder. "Not only are we graced by the infamous Kurogane and the solid-script mage he nearly killed, but we're also gifted the presence of an Exceed from another world and the iron dragon himself! Show some respect." The mocking of her tone made Metalicana stiffen in anger.

"She knows exactly who we are," Lily murmured into the iron dragon slayer's ear, his face serious. "And she knows what magic we use, Gajeel. We did not stop to consider such a thing."

"We should have," he growled back before letting an iron club form completely, just daring them to attack.

And then the iron faded from him. In fact, he was suddenly exhausted, and he swore loudly, recognizing the use of nullification magic. Kiken only grinned, licking his lips again as he showed off his sharp teeth, still watching Levy closely. Levy slumped against the iron dragon slayer heavily, panting softly, and Lily even trembled.

They'd made a very grave mistake. They hadn't been prepared for _this_ powerful of nullification magic.

Sensing what was happening, Metalicana quite suddenly shook his humanoid appearance off, roaring a warning to them as he shielded the Fairy Tail mages with his massive body, his metallic scales glinting in the light of the falling sun.

Chi bounced on the balls of her feet. "Can I play, Rida? Can I? Pretty please?" She clasped her hands together, pressing them to her lips in a similar fashion to Mavis. "It's been so long since I've been able to hear such a cute little girl scream!"

Rida pressed her lips together unhappily. "Help yourself," she said with a heavy sigh, waving towards the group. "Where is Kira? You cannot do much with an iron dragon blocking your way. Even we are not capable of it."

"Here," a gravelly voice growled as a fifth form stepped into view. He wore no black cloak, instead was only dressed in the rattiest of clothes, his black eyes full of a blank and emotionless void. But it was the power radiating off of him that scared Levy more than anything else.

"We need to leave," she whispered nervously. "Now."

Gajeel growled his agreement, tensing.

 **"** _ **Gajeel!**_ **"** Metalicana suddenly _screamed_ , the voice making even Kira, the newcomer, cover his ears with a grimace. Levy whimpered in surprise and fear as she tried to ignore the blood that trickled from her ears. If it was hurting her this much, she didn't want to think about how much the sound was hurting Gajeel and Lily, who both had far more sensitive ears that were bleeding like hers.

Suddenly, Gajeel hooked an arm around Levy's waist - and jumped. He narrowly avoided a wing that suddenly snapped out from its hidden place on Metalicana's back - she really hadn't seen any wings, she noted distantly, and they were certainly strange in comparison to what she thought all dragons' wings looked like - before landing easily on the iron dragon's plated back. The iron scales rose and fell in his anger and rage, and Levy very nearly tumbled sideways off of his back when Gajeel let go of her for a split moment to grab Lily and tuck him under his arm despite the Exceed's hiss of protest.

"Let's go, old man," Gajeel snapped, sure that Metalicana would hear.

And then Levy was slammed down onto her stomach against hard iron scales as Metalicana shot into the sky like one of the magic bullets fired from Bisca and Alzack's guns. The breath left her in a whoosh and before she could catch it, Gajeel was practically pinning her to the dragon's back beneath his heavy body, shielding her from spears of black energy that practically radiated death and a twisting shadow creature that reached for them. Metalicana gave a roar of pain as one skimmed across his shoulder, creating the smallest of cuts that dripped blood upon the people below them.

When Gajeel dubbed it safe enough, he shifted off of Levy, careful to keep her from falling to her death. "Fuck," he mumbled, "Not good."

"You think?" Levy gasped, amazed they could hear each other over the sound of the wind.

Lily squirmed so that their heads were all close to each other. "We didn't even get the _chance_ to act out our plan...how does Mavis expect us to do this?" he demanded. "Can she not bring _some_ sort of help?"

"I don't think her magic works like that," Levy said faintly, swiping with one hand at the blood that had leaked from her ears. She pretended not to notice the look of rage in Gajeel's eyes at the sight. "But what was up with them? We know there's a shadow mage and a nullification mage, but what kinds were the other three? And we didn't even see the demon…"

"That last bastard had some kinda black magic, dunno what kind," Gajeel answered. He gritted his teeth furiously, ignoring the black hair that wildly fluttered around his face, more so than even Levy's. "And not sure about the others. The one smelled like blood though."

"The mage I think they called Rida," Lily said slowly, "I think she uses a type of magic that allows to read what kinds other mages use. That may be why she was able to know who and what we are alongside what magic we use."

"Fuck that, how'd that old hag know I'm called Kurogane?" Gajeel snapped in annoyance. "Haven't heard it since before I was dragged to Fairy Tail by that crazy old man."

"And that was a good eight or so years before now," Levy murmured, including their time on Tenrou without hesitation. "Gildarts would be really good to have about now…"

It wasn't that much later that Metalicana landed in front of the cave they'd taken shelter in. He stumbled heavily, nearly crashing, and Lily switched to his battle form to drag Gajeel and Levy away before they were crushed. Gajeel muttered annoyed complaints, but Levy patted the Exceed's head gratefully when he'd returned to his smaller form, holding him in her arms.

"You were not successful," a voice they recognized murmured. The Fairy Tail mages' heads snapped around to look at the blonde girl in the entrance of the cave. Mavis looked troubled, her green eyes full of an anxiety that made Levy uneasy. "This is not good. If you cannot kill the demon, then…"

"We'll get the fucker," Gajeel muttered gruffly, fixing his wild hair. Levy headed into the cave in a rush, practically sprinting inside. "Gotta re-think, s'all."

Mavis nodded to herself. "My magic is not made for destruction, and I have run out of favors to call on with Almondine. Perhaps if that was not the case I would be more help for you."

"Don't say that, Mavis," Levy scolded as she came scrambling back out, Lily flying behind her and her bag in her hands. She shoved it at Gajeel, then dug around before retrieving some bandages. "I'm going to wrap Metalicana's shoulder if he can reduce his size," she explained. "If something can pierce iron like that…" She shook her head.

Mavis smiled to herself secretly, watching as Levy went to where Metalicana was. The iron dragon heaved himself upright rather than remaining on his side, his tongue lolling out of his mouth as it did when he was enraged. He was snarling viciously under his breath, but took on a humanoid appearance when Levy requested that he do so.

"...oh," Levy said faintly. "Mavis, can you-"

The founder of Fairy Tail darted forward to inspect the wound as Levy shoved the iron cloak from the iron dragon's shoulders. Gajeel and Lily exchanged a look before following closely behind.

The wound was larger than it had looked on his dragon form. It stretched from the top of his shoulder, all the way down to the bottom of his rib cage on his back, flaying the skin wide open so that small glimpses of bone showed. Levy's face went white at the sight. Black mist seemed to leak from the wound. Mavis' gaze narrowed. "...this is similar to the magic used by-"

"Acnologia, when he was still a dragon slayer," Metalicana finished, his voice hoarse with pain. "Bastard doesn't do dragon slaying magic, but if that little fucker keeps it up, we'll have another thing like Acnologia on our hands, girly."

Mavis paused in examining the wound. "...he has to be killed. Both of them. The demon, as well as him." She studied the wound carefully. "This will not heal quickly enough," she mumbled as an afterthought. Her gaze darted this way and that, as if seeking for ideas. But Mavis came up with nothing. "Grandeeney cannot leave her current location and come to treat you, and there is not enough time for Wendy Marvell or Porlyusica to come...no healer in the nearby town will treat you."

Metalicana gave a snicker, grimacing. "Fuck it. You can get rid of it. You can use some of my power. Not attacking anytime soon anyways."

Mavis hesitated, then nodded curtly. One small hand reached around to rest lightly on Metalicana's forehead, and the other covered the wound. Her eyes shut as she focused on the task at hand. A moment later, she pulled back. The wound was still there, but was no longer leaking the dangerous energy. "There," she murmured, then said to Levy, "Bind it. Dragons have beautiful healing abilities, but this wound is dangerous enough that it will require bandaging."

Levy did just that. With great care, the solid-script mage went to work, carefully wrapping the bandages around Metalicana after they'd removed the simple top he'd been wearing. Levy was gentle, her hands moving swiftly but cautiously until she was done, and then she looked to Gajeel with a firm look. "Are you hurt?"

He shook his head, red eyes never leaving her face. "Nah," he said with a smirk. "Like anything would hurt me, shorty."

She rolled her eyes. _Liar. I see the blood in your ears._

"You didn't even fight," Lily reminded.

"Not the point," he answered.

Levy only sighed and did a final check of the bandages before setting back, glancing to the concerned Mavis as Metalicana careful drew the iron cloak back around his body, looking more comfortable once he had. "So...what do we do now?" she said softly. "We can't just...go in like we were planning, Mavis."

What frightened her more than anything else about this situation that they found themselves in was that _Mavis_ , the one who had calculated every single move in the Grand Magic Games correctly, had helped them create a failed plan.

"I am aware," she murmured in her soft childish voice. Distress flooded across her face. "I do not know where to even begin creating a plan that will work...all of my calculations, they all result in at least one of your deaths, and I will not have my fairies or a dragon dying."

"This is a problem," Lily mumbled to himself as he seated himself beside Levy. The solid-script mage gathered him into her arms, frustrated tears in her eyes. Gajeel scowled at the sight of them.

Metalicana grunted in thought as he shifted, pulling up a knee to rest his elbow on. His red eyes watched them carefully, his lips twisted into a thoughtful look. "Hate to break it to ya, but there ain't much we can do, Mavis. I won't have the deaths of my brat and his fairy on our hands, either."

"I'm here, too," Lily grumbled, much to the dragon's amusement.

"Levy's safety is first priority," Gajeel put in with a glare to both dragon and Mavis. "I ain't doing anything that risks her life."

"Gajeel," Levy huffed. "That's basically almost everything we do in regards to the demon. I hate to tell you this, but you might as well go home if you aren't going to help in anything that endangers my life."

He scowled at her for that.

Mavis clasped her hands in front of her lips. "Let us think this through. Reina has told me - I visited her while you were away and before she decided to head home. I told her that her team was safe. Reina told me that there are five mages in total. Kira, the one that uses the magic similar to Acnologia's. Kiken-"

"Nullification magic," Levy finished. "The other one, Kage, uses the shadow magic, and we're pretty sure Rida uses some kind of magic that allows her to know a lot about us."

Mavis nodded. "It is Chi that concerns me at the moment."

"What's up with her?" Gajeel demanded. "She was talking like a crazy psycho bitch."

"Gajeel!" Levy snapped. "Language, please!"

"She uses blood magic," Mavis murmured, pressing her lips together. "Blood magic is a dangerous type of dark magic. It allows one to control the being that the mage has gathered blood from. In other words," she paused, looking at Metalicana. "She may have a dragon's blood now."

Metalicana scowled furiously. "Damn that little witch. Dunno if she'll be able to handle my magic though. And I'm pretty sure she would have used it by now if she had it."

"She may be saving her magic for when we attack again," Lily commented. The Exceed rubbed his head with a paw, glancing up at all of them. "If that's the case, then we won't win no matter what we do. It'll be certain that we die, because even if Gajeel's magic is meant to kill dragons, I don't think any of us want him to kill Metalicana."

"No," Levy agreed. "We certainly do not."

"Damn," Metalicana snarled. "If only that fiery bastard would get his ass out here and help us! It's the creature that touched _his_ brat's chosen mate, and keeping himself where he is won't do anything for when-" He cut off, shaking his head. "Igneel has no reason for staying out of this now."

Mavis looked near tears. "I apologize. I wish I could have requested Reina or Almondine's help."

"It's not your fault, Mavis," Metalicana muttered, looking guilty for making Mavis nearly cry.

Mavis sniffled softly, biting her lip. "We _must_ succeed," she said softly, "Or it will mean the end of us all."

None of them said anything to deny it.

* * *

"Come on, please? Pretty please? Pretty please with a cherry on top?"

"No, now stop your stupid little asking, Chi, and act like a fucking adult!"

Chi pouted, glaring at Kiken with a dark look of fury in her eyes. "I wasn't asking _you_ , Kiken," she snarled, showing off dainty white teeth, as if she was an animal baring its fangs at another. "Shove it." She smiled brightly at Rida. "Come on, Rida, I have the dragon's blood, it won't be that hard! I'll kill them all _and_ the town if you let me!"

"No, Chi," Rida said patiently, violet eyes flashing. "Now is not the time."

"Come now, Rida," Kage purred, looking at the youngest of their group with amusement. "Let Chi have her fun...it isn't every day that she has the iron dragon Metalicana under her control."

"No," Rida repeated. "We must await for Kira's orders. I would rather not be on the punishing end because I allowed Chi to have fun too soon. She can enjoy herself when he gives the okay. We _need_ that little fairy's magic."

A cruel smirk made its way onto Kiken's face. "Too bad that dragon slayer girl turned out to be a traitor...she would have made it a little easier to contain her. My magic should be enough, though."

"Definitely. Did you see how badly they reacted when you used it?" Chi cackled. "Pathetic!"

"Now, now." Kira's voice had all four of them looking up. The dark-eyed mage was watching them closely from a balcony above them, a strange looking bug humanoid creature standing awkwardly behind him, its black eyes glittering excitedly. "Have patience with the underlings. They don't understand like we do. They must be taught, just like all of us were."

Chi beamed up at Kira. "Can I-"

He held his hand up to cut her off, grinning. "No, not yet, my dear Chi, we must give them a moment's rest. Don't worry, I have a plan that will suit us all - even you and your wish to use the iron dragon."

Chi clapped her hands together in excitement. "Yay!"

"Kiken!" The nullifying mage, who'd been looking at Chi with disgust, snapped his gaze upwards to their leader, confused. "You saw the fairy we need, correct?"

"We all did," he said truthfully. "What about her?"

"You have a...peculiar interest in her, however?"

"Your point?" Kiken arched his brow, growing annoyed with Kira's subtlety.

"I'll put you in charge of accompanying Kage to fetch her," was all Kira said, grinning as he folded his hands behind his head. "Don't do too much damage, please. We do need her alive so that our friend here can fetch her magic. Afterwards...help yourself."

"Willingly," Kiken purred, exchanging an excited look with Kage, who simply shrugged without a care.

"Good thing we didn't say anything important around Reina," Chi mused as she began to do a strange dance around Rida, nearly hypnotic in her movements. Rida's eyes followed her with a hint of annoyance. "Otherwise she would've ruined everything. I'm glad Master Demon managed to get some of that dragon slayer's magic when he took the celestial mage's...it would have made it even more troublesome. Stupid dragon slayer." She cackled. "As if it wouldn't absorb your magic as well when you're using it and waving it in his face."

"They are quite stupid," Rida agreed, pursing her lips. "Then again, dragons and their slayers care only for their treasures and often times go into a blind rage when confronted with a situation in which their little precious mates are harmed."

"Oh?" Kira tapped his temple in thought, glancing at the hissing creature beside him. "We can use that to our advantage here. Did you see the way the fairy was around Kurogane? Too bad we don't have the magic that was involved with Nirvana, we could have turned him on her… Oh, well. We'll just have Chi use the dragon to deal with him. Kage, you can have some fun with the cat."

Kage grunted. "You're leaving me to deal with a _cat_?"

"It's stronger than it looks," Rida reassured, trying to keep Kage out of a dark mood. "It won't be as easy to fight as you believe, Kage."

"So when do we go?" Kiken demanded impatiently. "I want to have some fun, Kira. We haven't been allowed to do _anything_ really in years!"

"Patience, my friend. As I said, give it a day. Tomorrow evening, you can fetch her. Let them have their final moments of peace." Kira laughed, a huge grin spreading across his face as the demon beside him clacked the pincers on its face excitedly, just as excited as the rest of them. Kira gave the demon an affectionate look, as if he adored it.

And he did.

Kira appreciated the darkness and desires of the bug-like demon more than anyone else in their tight little group. Maybe it had to do with the type of magic Kira used, or maybe it was the fact that the demon was just as eager as them to raise both Zeref and Acnologia to destroy the rest of Fiore and even the world, but he would protect the demon. He would give his life for the creature, even if it would turn on him before considering doing the same for him.

Either way, the demon was his to care for and his to guard.

And even if he had to protect it against a dragon, so be it.

He could slay dragons.

They weren't that much harder to kill than demons, after all.

* * *

The snow fell gently throughout the town, filling the streets with mounds of the white and cold substance. It was silent, more than likely because it was fairly late at night and most people were asleep.

 _Most_ people.

Within a room that was nearly pitch black, a mage held his hand up just a few inches from the blankets that covered the woman that slept in a hospital bed, his onyx eyes underlined with shadows that proved he had yet to sleep after not doing so for days on end. His pink hair, usually sticking up, lay flatly against his head, bangs falling into his face as he reached out with the hand _not_ holding fire to brush the blonde bangs from the woman's forehead.

"You need to wake up, Lucy," he told her, sitting back, reluctantly pulling away so that he was no longer touching her feverish flesh. "We're all waitin' on you...Erza's talkin' about making me take a job soon and I don't want to. But I'm gonna have to, I think. Or she'll drag me there." He fell silent for a moment. "I miss you. S'not fun unless you're here, too, you know. And Gray wants to say sorry, but I don't know if I want to let him. Bastard's the reason you're here. Levy and Gajeel left a while ago, heard somethin' about what did this to you. Got a letter from 'em a few days ago, but nothing other than that. Gramps is worried."

Puffing out a soft wisp of fire, Natsu Dragneel rocked back in his chair, not caring when it nearly fell backwards. "Wonder what's taking 'em so long...should have heard at least _something_ by now, right?"

Nothing. Only silence answered him, and Natsu gave a faint smile, an echo of the huge grin that hadn't spread across his face since before his best friend and the one he considered to be the most important of all his treasure had fallen unconscious.

"I hope you wake up soon," he sighed. "Tired of all the idiots here."

Within the nightmare she was having, Lucy hugged Natsu tighter.

* * *

 _Yay! New chapter! I introduce to you our five mages! Well, black mages that aren't here for good reasons. Kira, Chi, Kiken, Kage, and Rida. Chi scares the hell out of me (my editor dislikes her as well) but I'm quite proud of her. Mission accomplished in that character creation. Thanks to my lovely reviewer (ilftnatsu) and thanks to those who favorited and followed! See you Monday!_


	7. Chapter 6

**. Shattered Reality .**

* * *

 _'-protect the fairy queen, vowing to never allow harm to come to her. The fairies were reluctant, but ultimately agreed to allow the dragon to guard the golden field they called home._

 _'In the meantime, the dark mage anguished his loss of control over the dragon, vowing that he_ would _have his revenge, even if it killed him. He contemplated what to do with the dragon as well as the fairy queen as soon as they were in his grasp, but was at a loss about how to get them. For the dragon had been the dark mage's source of destruction, and-'_

A hand descended upon Levy's head, making her jump in surprise. "Gajeel," she grumbled, marking her place and closing her book with a dark look in her eyes. The iron dragon slayer, who had sneaked up behind her, only smirked and dropped something into her lap. She studied it. "...when did you get this?" she demanded, opening the bottle of orange soda and taking a sip of it.

"When Lil' and I went to town last night," Gajeel grunted, dropping down to sit beside her. He watched her as she screwed the lid back on before offering it to him, waving her off to show he didn't want it. He glanced at the book in her lap and furrowed his pierced brows. "...didn't ya say you finished that book? Where's the other one ya bought?"

"I read that one last night," Levy replied, then patted the book in her lap. "But I like this one, so I decided to read it again."

He rolled his eyes. "Whatever," he muttered.

Under Mavis' orders, the group of four had been told to never go anywhere alone. So when Metalicana had demanded that one of them go with him into town to check on how it was along with fetching a few desired possessions, Lily had offered to go rather than suggesting that Levy or Gajeel accompany the dragon, knowing better than to think that Gajeel would agree with any other arrangement.

So, Levy and Gajeel had been left alone together in the cave. Gajeel had been on guard, ready to fend off anything that decided to attack them, and Levy had only shook her head when her dragon slayer had insisted on sitting near the edge of the cave, watching the trees around them. So the fact that he'd come back inside was just a _little_ concerning to the solid-script mage.

Levy pressed her lips together, smoothing her hand over the book with an affectionate look, and he watched her out of the corner of his eye with curiosity. "Gihi," he suddenly chuckled. She glanced at him questioningly. "Like the book where the stupid fairy decides to fall for a dragon, eh?"

"Of course," Levy answered, fighting the urge to laugh. She stroked the cover. "Because I can relate to the most of the characters in it - particularly the fairy." She pretended not to notice the pink that tinged his cheeks. "Anyways… Any sign of Lily and Metalicana?"

"No," he muttered. He dug in his pocket for a moment, then withdrew some various pieces of iron for him to snack on. Levy frowned at the sight of one of the nicer forks from the guildhall and made a note to apologize to Mirajane, who'd likely get annoyed over missing silverware.

Levy sighed softly, resting her chin in her open palms and her elbows on her knees after folding her legs. "What are we going to do?" she said softly, gaze full of distress as her expression slid into a frown.

Gajeel paused mid-chew, part of the fork sticking out of the corner of his mouth as he glanced at her. "Wha'?"

"What are we going to do?" she repeated. "We're in a bad situation, there's no way reinforcements can get here soon enough, and Metalicana and Mavis have said there's no way any of the other dragons are able to or willing to help us with this mess." She pushed the book away with a frustrated look. "Gajeel, we _will_ die, along with everyone else in Fiore if we don't do something."

He swallowed his mouthful of iron. "Then we die," he muttered, and her gaze snapped to him. "If there ain't anything we can do, shrimp, then we're fucked. Simple as that. We can't figure a way out if one doesn't exist to begin with."

"Some kind of Fairy Tail mage you are," Levy retorted. She impatiently tugged on a lock of blue hair, then yanked her headband out with a frustrated look. "There has to be _something_ we can do. I don't want to just sit back and wait for our demise...we have to at least seriously try."

She leaned back against the wall of the cave, crossing her arms over her chest with a scowl after tossing her headband so that it struck the other side of the cave. "Some kind of chaotic magic, blood magic, nullifying magic, reader magic, and shadow magic against solid-script and iron dragon slaying magic, an Exceed, and the iron dragon. We're at a disadvantage…" She narrowed her eyes. "Sting would be a good person to have here, I'm not going to lie Rogue, even. They'd be able to match against the shadow mage. Too bad Sabertooth's just as far as Fairy Tail...how close are the other guilds?"

"Oi. Woman."

"Maybe we could call on one of the other guilds," Levy said excitedly, clapping her hands together. "I don't think Mavis could do much to help us in that area, she couldn't be seen by them, but we could! Metalicana could take us to the nearest guild, we could drag them back if necessary, and we'd have our back up."

"Shrimp."

"But there's no guild near this area," Levy murmured, her face falling. "And we wouldn't make it back in a single day...we need to have a plan set by tomorrow, too...damn, this is bad." She gritted her teeth, clenching her jaw. "If only that girl hadn't run off and we could convince that other dragon to help us! We're going to die because of them!"

"Levy!"

"It's going to be our fault if this isn't stopped...even if we have tried all we can think of, and even if we do die in the process of trying to stop them, it'll still be our fault that all of Fiore is destroyed. We're supposed to be Fairy Tail mages and here we are, unable to do anything…"

"Damn it, woman, shut up for a second!"

The snarl broke her concentration, and Levy scowled, annoyed by the irritated tone of Gajeel's voice as she twisted to glare at him. "What do you-"

She was cut off by a firm hand grasping the back of her head and trapping her in place as a pair of lips slanted over hers.

Levy gave a muffled sound of surprise, startled at the sudden kiss. But only a moment later, the solid-script mage was returning it, her fingers tangling in Gajeel's wild black hair and her lips moving urgently against his. Gajeel gave a soft growl in response, grinning against her before dragging her closer and into his lap. Levy squeaked in surprise, face flaming a brilliant red that rivaled Erza's hair.

He pulled back after a moment, smirking at the look Levy wore on her face. "Stop being a downer, woman."

Levy's cheeks turned even darker if possible. "I'm not being a downer, I'm being truthful," she retorted. She was tensed, as if anxious about where she found herself sitting and it only made Gajeel snicker, surprisingly gentle as his hand shifted from the back of her head to gently cup her cheek, swiping his thumb over her cheek. Her eyes widened fractionally.

And then he gripped her chin tightly, giving her head a little shake that was rough enough to make her a little dizzy. "Then stop being truthful, shorty, it fucking sucks."

"Oh, shut up." Levy drew herself up, shifting so that she knelt with a knee on either side of him and digging into the rocky ground. She didn't seem to notice the slight twinges of pain that accompanied this, however, as she clapped her hands over each of his cheeks, and kissed him. The iron dragon slayer snickered, forced to tilt his head back slightly. He released her chin in favor of simply using both hands to grab her hips, fangs nipping gently at her lower lip, and Levy giggled softly, eyes fluttering open, when his fingers dug lightly into the flesh that had been revealed when her shirt had ridden up.

Thanking the heavens that the cave was warmed by one of the spells placed on it, and then silently musing that it could have been a bit cooler, because she _was_ feeling kind of warm by this point, Levy's mind suddenly went blank when Gajeel gave a dark chuckle and yanked her closer so that he could rasp in her ear, "Fuck, Levy, you got any clue what ya do to me?"

She gave a strangled sound as he set to work on tracing the edge of her ear with his tongue before dropping his lips to her neck, sucking at the flesh. Levy's breath came in soft pants as she tried to regain her senses, but came up unsuccessful. Especially when his fingers delved beneath her shirt, skimming across her skin and making her shiver.

Levy lightly tugged at Gajeel's hair to catch his attention, and he paused in what he was doing to glance up at her. She took the chance to capture his lips again, parting her own when he gently urged her to. Her eyes fluttered shut again, and she simply gave into the warmth he provided, enjoying herself immensely.

Gajeel's hand had just begun to travel upwards when a familiar rumbling voice demanded, "The fuck is wrong with you two? Damn, can't even leave you two alone for a _second_ before you're all over each other…"

Both Fairy Tail mages went dead still before Levy was shoving away from Gajeel with a squeal, her face flushing brilliantly. " _Damn it, old man!_ " Gajeel practically roared, grabbing the nearest object - a particularly large rock - and hurling it at the iron dragon as hard as he could.

Metalicana threw his head back and laughed, nearly doubling over with how hard he was laughing. From where he was hovering, Lily wore a sly look on his face, amused by the situation as well. Levy scrambled to tug her shirt back down as Gajeel rushed to sit up properly rather than leaning back against the wall of the cave like he had been...and accidentally sending Levy sprawling across the ground in the process. Gajeel glared viciously at the two that had interrupted them, as if blaming them for what had just happened.

Lily shrugged. "It's not our fault you can't keep your hands to yourself, Gajeel," he reminded.

Metalicana smirked at his son, eyes glinting with an evil look. "Don't be so embarrassed. I remember when I was younger -"

"Oh, _hell_ no," Gajeel snarled, throwing another rock at Metalicana's head. The dragon didn't even flinch when it struck him smack in the middle of his forehead. "We are _not_ listening to your fucking stories!"

Metalicana gave him a mocking pout. "Why, brat? Used to love my stories when you were little."

"Listen, you fucking piece of metallic-"

Levy slapped her hands over Gajeel's mouth to stop him, wailing, "Stop! Please! All of you! I'm begging all of you to stop!"

"Alright, alright," Lily agreed, chuckling to himself as he flew over and dropped himself into her lap. She hugged him to her, hiding her face. "We do have more important issues to discuss…"

Metalicana grinned. "Are you sure, 'cause I can tell you-"

" _No_ ," Gajeel growled.

"Suit yourself." Metalicana wandered over, then threw something down at their feet. Gajeel plucked it up to examine it, then rolled his eyes. "Don't make that face, boy," the iron dragon growled. "This'll help us."

Levy, still blushing, reached around Lily to pick it up. "Where'd you get this?" she demanded, looking confused. "I don't recognize what this is…"

"You wouldn't," Lily told her. "This is similar to what those in Edolas used when the magic began to go away." His eyes were narrowed. "Here, however, it's used by people who are unable to use magic period."

Gajeel grunted, studying it warily. "I remember those things. Saw them when we were there...the hell did you bring one back for, Lil'?"

"The thing about nullification magic," Metalicana said smugly, his eyes gleaming as he took it from her. He pressed a button, holding it away, and a sword of pure energy as white as the freshly fallen snow that decorated the ground outside appeared. "Is that it neutralizes what magic a mage contains, but it has to be a living being that it affects."

Levy caught on. "So you're saying," she breathed, "That we can use this against the nullification mage?"

"Yes." The iron dragon hit the button again, and the white magic vanished. He wrinkled his nose, sniffing the device. "The magic is similar to that of Weisslogia's…" He glanced up. "It may work against shadow magic as well. Shadow magic has a weakness against white magic, but is fairly strong against most others. Perhaps that is why Weisslogia's and Skiadrum's runts work so well with each other…"

Levy blinked. "You know of Sting and Rogue?"

"I know of most dragon slayers," Metalicana said simply. "Igneel is my friend, and I was often times around when they came around with news of their little brats. Almondine's is the only one I know barely anything about."

"Huh," she muttered in response.

"Where's Mavis?" Lily asked. "If we're going to start planning again, now is a good time to start."

"I agree," Levy added.

"Mavis will come when she is ready," Metalicana answered, "And I'm sure that'll be soon. She's not likely to stay away for too long with so many of her fairies at risk, little fairy."

"Levy," the solid-script mage huffed. "My name is _Levy_."

"...you sure? You look like a little fairy."

"I'm not a fairy," Levy grumbled, "I'm not _that_ short, I can promise you. Fairies are smaller than me. _Way_ smaller."

"And how would you know?" Metalicana arched a pierced brow. "Have _you_ met a fairy? Believe me, fairies are a bit bigger than you think, little one, and you look more like one than any other person I've come across." His voice filled with a warm affection for the young woman as he spoke, and pride swept across his expression as he watched Gajeel rest an elbow on her head and mutter for her to ignore him in her ear.

There wasn't a person in the world who could claim that he wasn't proud of his son and the one woman he'd picked out.

...and their cat he supposed.

"So here's what we do," Lily told them. "We plan until Mavis comes back, then see what she thinks. Or-" He cut off. His eyes were locked on the forgotten book that Levy had been reading before Gajeel had interrupted her. "Are you reading that again?"

Levy laughed, reaching behind them for the book. She held it in front of her and Lily, patting it affectionately. "Yes. Would you rather I read out loud again rather than plan without Mavis? I think it's better we wait for her anyways...where should I start?"

Metalicana huffed. "If you're going to read aloud, then start at the beginning."

"Again?" Gajeel grumbled, annoyed and looking exactly like his father in regards to his lack of enthusiasm over the matter.

Yet there was not a single word of complaint uttered as Levy opened the book to the first page and began to read aloud, _"Once upon a time, in a world not so different from our own, there was a dragon that was well-known for the greed he had in regards to his most precious treasure…"_

* * *

"Damn, it's cold out here," Levy muttered, rubbing her arms after stepping out of the cave. She tilted her head back to look at the dark sky, taking in the stars that dotted it with a longing look on her face. Lucy would have loved to have seen the crisp clearness of the stars out here, away from any humans and other creatures that filled the world…

The solid-script mage spared a look over her shoulder. Gajeel was dozing beside the fire that they'd all prepared, Lily passed out on his back nearby. Metalicana was still in his humanoid appearance - but that changed a moment later, when the iron dragon's form rippled and he prepared to block the entrance of the cave. He paused, however, when he noticed that she'd stepped outside and grumbled, stepping outside in his humanoid form to join her.

"You should come inside," he scolded her. "Humans get sick easy, right?"

Levy gave a soft laugh, her breath hitting the air in a white cloud. "No. Not that easily. We're a bit hardier than you think, great and powerful dragon." She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, regretting losing her headband in her tantrum earlier in the day. "I'll come inside in a little bit if you don't mind. I want some time to myself."

Metalicana shook his head. "That isn't a good idea, little fairy. Not now, when they could be ready to attack us at any moment."

"I'm right outside the cave," Levy protested, "You'll know right away if I've been attacked, right? Plus you've got super hearing."

"My brat won't appreciate this, little one," he told her. "It isn't smart. And you are not a dumb person."

Levy raised an eyebrow. "I'm practically S-Class, Metalicana. I'm hardly helpless. I won't go anywhere, I promise."

He shook his head. "You're as impossible to argue with as Grandeeney. _Fine_. But I want you to come in within the hour, and if there is even a sound that makes you nervous, you _will_ call for us, is that clear?"

She beamed up at him. "Thanks," she told him. He turned to enter the cave, then stopped when she called softly, "Metalicana?"

He glanced back. "What," he huffed.

Levy hesitated, then asked softly, "Will you come back with us after this is all over? Our guild would love to meet you, and…" She glanced towards the cave, eyes softening. "Gajeel's acting like he could care less, but I think he'd be happy, too."

Metalicana blinked, as if startled by her question, then gave a broad grin. "Would love to, little one, but I can't just yet. Trust me, I'll come around again, but it won't be for a while. Can't have one dragon show up without the rest of them."

"True," Levy agreed, though looking slightly disappointed. But she only smiled brightly at him. "Then Gajeel and I will have to wait for you to come and join our family along with Igneel, Grandeeney, and any other dragon that has a slayer in our guild."

"Giving me a shot at Almondine, eh?" The iron dragon snorted. "Don't think I'll try. Sparky's pissy whenever I try hard enough. But I will. I promise on my honor as a dragon." He winked, and then ducked into the cave, leaving the solid-script mage to have the alone time she wanted so desperately.

Gajeel glared at him the second he was near enough. "Where's the shrimp?" he demanded, not bothering to move from his relaxed position. He'd settled onto his side, one hand supporting his head and a knee bent as he snacked on iron that Metalicana had found while out in town earlier in the day.

"Having some time to herself. Leave her be, brat, she's fine." Metalicana narrowed his eyes warningly when the iron dragon slayer moved to stand and drag her inside. "She said she would call for us if something happened, and that she wouldn't go any further than the outside of the cave." He dropped onto the ground, shrugging off his iron cloak. It made a soft screeching as the iron scraped against each other, yet still pooled on the ground like cloth. "Need to talk with ya anyways."

Lily, who'd been reading the book that Levy had purchased in town only a few days before, glanced up. "Should I leave?"

"Nah, you're fine." Metalicana scratched his chin thoughtfully, careful not to tug at the piercings beneath his lip. "Don't mind if you hear. Just don't let the little one know."

Lily set the book aside and Gajeel grunted as he hauled himself upright, eyes never leaving Metalicana's face. "Then talk," he grumbled, "'Cause we don't have all night. I want her back inside soon."

Metalicana rolled his eyes. "I hope," the iron dragon began, completely serious now, "That you are aware of just how unlikely it is that the three of you will come out of this alive, Gajeel. Even if we do succeed at our goal, it is likely that you won't survive. The amount of power these mages have...your fairy informed me that she is nearly S-Class. I believe these mages _are_ S-Class, perhaps even stronger. It concerns me."

"Your point?" Gajeel glared. "There ain't much we can do. That old dude can't come help us, Pops." Metalicana's lips twitched, threatening to lift into a smile at that. "Gildarts hasn't been around for a while, and by the time some kinda letter gets to the guild, we'll all be dead."

"My point," he huffed, "Is that you better hope to hell and back that Mavis has some kinda plan that'll get us where we need to be, 'cause if she doesn't...Levy McGarden along with yourselves will be dead."

"What about you?" Lily asked, tilting his head.

Metalicana's gaze darkened. "That blood lady may be able to control my actions. And if she wants you dead...you better be ready to kill me. I taught you magic that is meant to slay my kind, and if it becomes my goal to completely rid the world of you three, you _will_ kill me, is that clear?"

Gajeel clenched his jaw, unhappy with the thought, but gave a curt nod. "Yeah," he grunted. "Whatever."

"Good," Metalicana murmured. The iron dragon's magic rippled, threatening to allow him to retain his original appearance. "Now go get your fairy, you brat. Time to settle down for the night. Gotta be ready for anything."

"I'll do it," Lily offered when Gajeel rolled his eyes and moved to stand. The Exceed climbed to his paws, wings appearing at his back. "Finish your iron, Gajeel. You know Levy doesn't like the sound when she's trying to sleep."

The iron dragon slayer scowled at his cat. "She doesn't care. Said so herself."

"Because she knows that you'll be dramatic and stop eating iron around her all together," Lily answered, then went to go get the solid-script mage. Metalicana threw his head back and laughed loudly, the sound like boulders scraping against each other.

Gajeel watched after him with careful eyes, waiting impatiently for Lily to bring Levy back inside as he threw a handful of iron into his mouth, hurrying to finish it because _damn it_ , he knew he was right, and he didn't want to upset his bookworm.

There was a few moments of silence, broken only by the crackling fire that rested between he and this father.

And then Lily shouted, " _Gajeel_!"

Within a moment, Gajeel had thrown his handful of iron aside and was darting for the entrance of the cave. Metalicana beat him there by only a second, and was already growling low in his throat, his face a mask of pure rage. Gajeel's expression took on a deadly look, one that promised violence and the most painful of deaths as he took in the sight before him.

Levy was gone.

And in her place was the broken body of a child, his eyes staring blankly at the starry sky, the stars twinkling up above them all. The snow had been brushed away from the area around the body, and on the cold ground beside it, hastily written words had been drawn in the blood that still poured from the child's slit throat.

 _'Missing something? Too bad. So were we...not so much anymore.'_

"Shit," Metalicana gritted out.

"You think?" Lily bit out.

"This is not good." The familiar voice of Mavis rang out and the heads of the Exceed and the iron dragon snapped around to look at her. Mavis' green eyes sparkled anxiously. "It appears," she said faintly, "It was not dragon slaying magic they needed. I miscalculated - again!" Her face filled with anguish."

"What do you mean?" Metalicana demanded. His red eyes were full of self-directed hatred, and he cursed himself for agreeing to allow Levy to remain outside.

"The message," the First Master whispered. "They were not missing dragon slaying magic...it was solid-script magic they needed. How else would they be able to write the spells needed to summon Acnologia?" She clasped her hands in front of her lips, tears rising to her eyes. "Levy McGarden will be used in the same way Lucy Heartfilia was. We must-"

"She'll _what_?"

Gajeel's voice was emotionless, but as he turned his body to face them, the blonde girl felt a flash of worry. She had watched over her fairies since before her death, and she could remember each and every thing that they had been through.

The last time Gajeel Redfox had worn a look like the one he did now, he had nearly torn Team Shadowgear apart piece by piece.

"The _fuck_ are we sitting around here for?" he spat, trembling with the anger he felt. "We need to save my shrimp." His glare turned on Metalicana, who drew himself up to make himself look bigger, as most creatures did when feeling fear.

"Or it'll be your head I'm taking off. Because you're the one who let her hang out here, and it'll be your fault if she's killed. If you made it so that the one I care for was taken from me again, old man," Gajeel seethed.

" _I'll_ be the one to summon Acnologia, 'cause fuck the world if Levy's not here."

* * *

 _And...things have gone from bad to worse. :D But there was a bit of tiny lime in there for you all. Hope you enjoyed and thanks to my lovely reviewers (Gothazon and ilftnatsu) as well as those who have favorited and followed! ;)_


	8. Chapter 7

**. Shattered Reality .**

* * *

Pain flashed through her head as she slowly opened her eyes. She grimaced, throwing an arm over her eyes to block out the dimmed light, and then set to work on piecing together where she was and what had happened.

What had happened was simple enough.

Levy remembered it easily despite the pain in her temple.

She remembered standing in the snow, her head tilted back to study the starry sky, wondering if Lucy would have been able to draw out any new constellations - they'd gone out one night when Levy had been curious, and she'd shown them to the solid-script mage. She remembered feeling the energy drain from her as if it had been sucked out, and she remembered recognizing the feel of it, how it was the way the nullifying magic just snatched all of your magic away.

What she didn't remember, however, was where the blow to her head had come from. Behind her, maybe? From the-

Oh. So she'd been attacked by the shadow mage. Okay, that made a bit more sense. The nullification mage and the shadow mage had come after her, managed to get a quick blow in before she could alert the others, and then had taken her.

To _where_ was the question she couldn't answer.

Carefully, Levy sat up, ignoring the blood that made her hair stick to her face. Her head spun and she nearly vomited, but succeeded in not bringing up what she'd eaten, though she wasn't really sure _when_ that meal had been eaten…

The solid-script mage took in a deep breath, then released it, studying the cell she found herself. She could do this, she told herself. She needed to figure out where she was, how to get out and back to where she belonged - at the side of the iron dragon slayer, Gajeel Redfox.

Clutching her head, Levy staggered to her feet and used one hand to test the strength of the bars that caged her within the cell, shaking them. Nothing happened, much to her disappointment. Not that she was surprised - these mages weren't stupid. Especially the one with the reader magic.

"Damn," Levy muttered to herself, seating herself back down on the cold floor. Grateful she still had her coat, she drew her knees to her chest and rested her chin atop of them. Her gaze searched the darkness of her cell, loneliness flashing through her.

At least the others were okay, right? For now, anyways.

Levy contemplated her choices for the time being. There wasn't really all that many options other than sitting here until one of the dark mages came for her. So that's what she'd do.

Not like she could do anything against them if they were the nullification mage anyways…

It seemed like she'd been like that for hours before the sound of footsteps made her tense. She pressed her back up against the back of the cell, her gaze hardening to a dark look full of rage and anger - and a hint of fear was added when a cloaked girl knelt to study her through the bars.

Chi clucked her tongue. "Hiding won't help you, little fairy, but it's funny that you think it will." She giggled, smiling brilliantly. The shadows hid her face, showing only the malicious smile she gave. "Don't worry; Kira said I had to wait until your friends come. I don't get to play yet." Chi pouted. "I just had to check on you...don't worry, Kiken gets to come and have some fun." She sighed, as if disappointed. "Too bad. I've always wanted to hear what it sounds like when a little fairy screams."

Levy fought the urge to shudder. Being called a "little fairy" was nowhere near as pleasant when the words were coming from this woman's mouth. Levy pressed her lips together, then simply smirked at Chi. "Screw off," she told the woman, and promptly spat in her face.

Chi went still for a brief moment. And then she reached in faster than Levy could blink, grabbing the front of Levy's coat and yanking her painfully against the bars, her teeth bared viciously as she hissed, "You little _bitch_! Be grateful I am not the one tending to you because if I was, I'd-"

"Chi, that is enough."

Chi scowled, her lips pulling downwards as she simply shoved Levy back. Levy hit the ground painfully, but scurried to sit back up, smirking at Chi before focusing on the situation before hand. "Kira," she whined, "Let me have a go at her! Pretty please? Did you see what she did? She was-"

Kira's dark eyes flashed. "I said _no_ ," he gritted out, and Chi fell silent. "Leave."

"Yes, sir," she murmured before hastily leaving, shooting a final glare over her shoulder, face still hidden by the shadows.

When Chi was gone, Kira's gaze turned on the solid-script mage, who returned it, staring him in the eye with a furious look in her gaze. Kira's lips slid into an amused smile, and he knelt before the bars, cocking his head. "Do you think," he said slowly, "Such actions will save you from what we have planned, Levy McGarden?" She flinched at her name. "Yes, we know precisely who you are. Levy McGarden, solid-script mage of Fairy Tail. The little fairy Kurogane nearly killed yet now protects alongside the father that abandoned him. And the one who will be the one to give their magic to the demon so that we may summon the dragon Acnologia here, so that he will create the world our Master Zeref so desperately craves."

 _Here we go,_ Levy thought desperately. "What makes you think," she gritted out from between clenched teeth, ignoring the blue bangs that had fallen into her eyes. "That I will summon Acnologia for you?"

Kira laughed, as if amused by Levy's defiance. He pressed his palm against the bars, and Levy jerked her head way when something sliced painfully into her cheek. Blood immediately trickled down, dripping from her chin, and she scowled, pressing her hand over it. "Because I'll kill every single person in that guild of yours one by one unless you do - starting with Kurogane."

"His name is Gajeel," Levy retorted, "Kurogane no longer exists."

"We'll see about that...you'd be surprised just how dark a person can turn when they are reminded of how much they love death." He smirked, then stood. "Believe me. With the iron dragon Metalicana under Chi's control and the promise of Kurogane giving into the darkness that is in his heart...we'll win. And there's nothing that little brat Mavis Vermillion or you can do about it.

"Now." He rubbed the back of his head. "I hate to say it, but I promised Kiken he could enjoy himself before we hand you over to our friend, so...don't get too comfortable. He'll be down shortly."

Levy forced herself to not grimace, to not show her fear. She could do this. _Don't give him what he wants, and what he wants is fear,_ she told herself fiercely. Gajeel, Metalicana, and Lily would come as soon as possible, and if she knew Gajeel…

Pissed off wouldn't even begin to describe how her dragon slayer was right now.

Kira left, and Levy let herself give a shaky sigh. Something not-so-good was coming. She could feel it. And it had to do with that sharp-toothed nullification mage who made her skin crawl if Kira's words were anything to go by.

At least it wasn't Chi...though she did have a bit of fear over whether or not the strange girl would be assisting Kiken.

Levy took in a deep breath, then let it out sharply in a whoosh before repeating her actions another few times. She had to stay calm, she thought as she rested her head back and closed her eyes. _Stay calm, stay calm, stay-_

More footsteps, and Levy realized she was crying, tears falling from her eyes. She hated the weakness that made her such an easy target, she decided as she cursed herself. She was a strong mage, but she didn't move quickly or have the physical strength to keep herself from being kidnapped until someone who _did_ move fast or had physical strength could get there.

But now was _not_ the time for weakness.

Levy quickly wiped her tears away and steeled her gaze just in time for the nullification mage to appear. Kiken's eyes glinted with malicious intent, and he gave a short laugh at the look she wore on her face. "Got ourselves a feisty little fairy, eh?" he mused, licking his lips happily. "Glad I get to have some fun before we hand you over."

Before Levy could even consider moving, Kiken had stepped _through_ the bars of the cell as if they were made of shadows -

Damn, they were. That meant that Kage was probably helping the bastard.

Kiken grabbed her by the hair, dragging her out, and Levy screeched the whole way until a rather sharp foot to the gut shoved the air out of her. "Oh, shut your trap, bitch. We haven't even gotten started yet."

Levy clamped her mouth shut as she was hauled away from the cell she'd been in, down a stone corridor, and through a set of doors. They passed Chi, who pouted from her place beside a patient looking Rida, glaring after the blue-haired woman with a longing look that made her shudder.

It took a few minutes of painful dragging to get there, but before long, Levy was thrown face first to the stone ground of an empty room. She threw her hands out to stop her descent, relieved when her face didn't strike the ground.

This wasn't going to be pleasant, she realized as she scrambled to her feet, wishing she had that weapon that Metalicana and Lily had brought back from town. It would be nice to be able to have a weapon to fend off the one who was likely going to be dealing some serious injuries to her.

She just hoped he beat the hell out of her rather than complying to other urges, because she could live with bruises, broken bones, and bloody cuts.

Other things, she couldn't live with, and just the idea had her ready to scream bloody murder and fight with everything she had.

Levy readied herself to fight. Even if other urges were what he complied to, she'd fight to her last breath to defend herself.

"Aw, look at you, little fairy," Kiken cooed, an almost evil grin spreading across his face as he cracked his knuckles. His tongue darted out to wet his lips, his gaze gleaming excitedly as he showed off his pointed teeth. "Trying to fight...can't _wait_ to get a taste for myself...too bad I can't get the taste that Kurogane got last night, eh?" he said, studying her throat.

Levy slapped a hand subconsciously over what she assumed was undoubtedly a mark from her and Gajeel's interrupted fun the night before, and it only made Kiken laugh harder.

"Oh, well. Don't have time for that kinda fun. Your blood will have to do."

Levy didn't know whether to be pleased with this or terrified.

Kiken started forward and Levy threw up a shield with her magic - which vanished immediately. He cackled. "Did you forget, little fairy? I use the magic that cancels out any other kind." He held out a hand and the fire she'd sent his way - which usually worked so well for their resident Salamander - was made useless.

Levy wanted to cry.

One more shielding attempt was destroyed before an iron-knuckled fist met her jaw. Levy cried out as she was sent spinning to the ground, pain exploding through her jaw and threatening to send her unconscious. Kiken whistled cheerfully, shaking his gloved hand. "Saw those gloves that the iron freaks were using. Seemed like a good idea...damn, should have thought of it sooner!"

He eagerly hauled her up by her hair, and she simply glared at him before spitting blood at his face, ignoring the sting of her split lip. He simply used his free hand's thumb to wipe it off of his cheek, popping the appendage into his mouth. "Mm," he hummed. "Not bad...little princess I ate earlier from the next kingdom over was a bit tastier though…"

Levy shuddered. Great. Just what she needed. She'd heard of black mages that strengthened their magic by eating the flesh of other mages, but she'd thought they were merely myths...apparently not.

At least this one wouldn't be eating _her_ as far as she knew.

Suddenly, he slammed her head down, and Levy moaned in pain at the sharp crack, but barely had time to think about the pain before another blow was added. She was pretty sure a few ribs cracked from the kick he delivered to her ribs.

Levy struggled to raise a shield as he raised a fist to strike her again, but Kiken stopped when a furious voice shouted into the room, "Kiken! Enough! We have other problems, and we need to hurry!" Around the buzzing in her ears, Levy distantly recognized the voice as Kage's.

"C'mon!" Kiken roared furiously, "I haven't gotten to have my fun yet, damn it!"

"Just leave her for the demon!" Kage shouted back. "Fuckers are here already!"

"Son of a _bitch_ ," Kiken seethed as he climbed to his feet. He gave Levy a final kick, and the solid-script mage only whimpered. "Be happy, you little brat, pretty sure the demon will give you a hell of a lot nicer death than I would have." He stalked from the room with a vicious look on his face, swiping the last of her blood from his face and sucking it from his fingers.

Levy swallowed thickly, carefully drawing herself upright as best as she could. She spat more blood as it pooled in her mouth, and sucked in a shaky breath.

"This...this is n-nothing," she stammered, studying a nasty scar that ran raggedly across her arm. "This is _nothing_. I've survived worse. I'm fine. I'm-"

She hit the ground unconscious.

* * *

"Damn it," he growled, studying the damage before him with furious eyes. "What is this?"

The labyrinth that had protected them from the stupider and weaker mages was destroyed. The spells had all been set off, yet none of them seemed to affect the massive creature that roared its triumph from its place in the center of all of the destruction. The iron dragon looked furious, enraged, and the scream it gave off when its roar finished just proved the fact that it didn't just look that way, but it _was_.

Their location hadn't changed, and he found that concerning.

Rida studied the creature from her place beside their leader, but said nothing to him, her gaze troubled.

Chi, on the other hand, was practically radiant. "Is it my turn? Oh, please let it be my turn," she crooned, clapping her hands in excitement. "Come on, please, Kira? Kiken and Kage got to have their fun, it's my turn! Pretty please?"

Kira waved his hand. "Fine."

"Yes!" For the first time in months, Chi tossed her hood back.

Hair the color of blood fell down her back in waves, thick and shining - and dripping the very liquid it resembled. Blood spattered the ground around her feet, and when she smiled, her painted lips curved up, her stained cheeks crinkling up. Dried blood flaked off of her cheeks and forehead, and her yellow eyes glowed, surrounded by the same red color as her hair. As she held one hand out in preparation, a tear of sticky red liquid fell from her eye, and she caught it with her other hand. It settled into the center of her palm - and then rose to hover a few inches above it.

The dragon's head snapped around, looking at them, and Chi laughed quietly, the sound ringing out like bells.

"Well, Kira? What shall we have the iron dragon Metalicana do first?"

* * *

When Levy's eyes opened, she screamed bloody murder.

There, above her, was what couldn't be anything but the very demon they'd been after since leaving the guildhall. It's pincer mouth clicked excitedly, its black eyes glittering dangerously. She had been rolled onto her back, the coat torn away as the demon used its stinger-tipped fingers to carve a symbol she recognized into her stomach. She screamed again, trying to kick it away as pain exploded through her, threatening to drag her under alongside the darkness that began to thread through her vision.

The creature must have weighed a thousand tons from the effort she tried to put into kicking it off of her. She had no success with the matter, however, and Levy's screams started to choke off, replaced by wordless mumbles as she struggled to stay awake, struggled to get her hands up to use her magic.

And then there was the sound of slamming doors followed by a familiar roar of "OH _HELL_ NO!"

She whimpered, struggling to speak as the demon was thrown away from her, barely able to hear the voice that snarled, "Gajeel, ruin the mark! Slice it or something, mess it up before she's unconscious, or we're screwed! I'll handle this little fucker here."

"Shit," Gajeel hissed as a shadow fell over what little Levy could see. Her head lolled as she tried to focus on him. "This is gonna hurt, shrimp, hold on." She uttered a pained cry when something sharp was drawn across her stomach - but a moment later, her vision cleared, and tears flooded her eyes.

"G-Gajeel!" she choked out, automatically reaching for the iron dragon slayer. Uncharacteristically, he touched her cheek gingerly, searching her gaze for a moment before cranking his head over his shoulder.

"Damn it," he seethed. "Lily!"

"Here!" The Exceed appeared, landing beside Levy's head with an anxious look.

"Stop the bleeding," was all he said before launching himself into battle alongside his father, iron scales rippling across his flesh as they set to work on tearing the screaming demon apart piece by piece.

Despite the fight it put up, it was quite easy to rip its limbs away from its body, and even easier for Metalicana to remove its head from its body, spattering them both in black blood and gore. Metalicana sneered, tossing the head aside as he exchanged a look with the furious Gajeel. And then both were making their way quickly over to where Lily was using what was left of Levy's coat to staunch the bleeding of the mark on her stomach while trying his best to determine how bad the wounds on her head were.

"Damn," Gajeel gritted out. "Should have dragged Wendy with us. Oi, woman! Can you walk? We're gonna have to fight our way out."

"D-dunno," Levy managed to choke out. "Maybe? M-my _head_ …" A muffled sob escaped her. "It _hurts_."

"Carry her," Metalicana ordered. "Pantherlily, be ready to fight."

"C'mere," Gajeel muttered. He gently picked the solid-script mage up, cradling her safely against his chest as he shot to his feet. She didn't utter a single sound of complaint, instead leaning her head carefully against his arm, and he growled when her blood trickled down his flesh. "Let's go. Need to get her out of here."

Metalicana nodded his agreement. "Focus on keeping her safe," he instructed. "Pantherlily and I will focus on defending you."

"Agreed," Lily rumbled, switching to his battle form when the sound of footsteps filled the air. They ducked to hide around a corner after exiting the room as Kage raced by, his gaze narrowed dangerously as he peered in room after room, as if seeking something. When he peeked into the room they had left only moments before, he shouted in astonishment and anger before racing off again, probably to inform Kira of what had happened.

"...damn," Lily said suddenly. "You killed a demon. And one that was supposed to be hard for even Metalicana to kill."

"Isn't that a new one," Gajeel agreed gruffly. "Salamander didn't get to have all the fun this time."

Levy gave a soft, pained, and breathless laugh, her eyes fluttering shut as she tried to rest while she could.

They set to work on making their way through the corridors of the stone fortress. Metalicana kept a sharp eye and ear out for any sign of danger while Lily popped in and out of his battle form depending on what the iron dragon sensed.

Only when a roar filled their ears did Levy rasp, "Metalicana…"

"Mavis," Metalicana corrected, glancing down a corridor - and then grinning when he saw a set of doors. "This way!"

They all sprinted for it, Lily flying alongside their heads, and Metalicana didn't hesitate to throw the doors open.

They were met by the teeth of a dragon, but nobody except Levy flinched.

Metalicana smirked as he shoved the dragon's head away as if it was nothing, and his grin only grew wider at the sight of Chi's shock. The five black mages stood in the center of the courtyard, encased by the front legs of the dragon form of the iron dragon - right where the Fairy Tail mages and Metalicana had been only a few days before.

"How is this...what is this?" Chi demanded. The dragon above them growled.

"You killed the demon," Kira whispered, astonished. But then a black emotion flooded his face. "You ruined _everything_! What the hell is this trickery?" he shouted, waving at the dragon above them, clearly realizing that this wasn't the true iron dragon.

"Gihi!" Metalicana laughed, hands on his hips. "C'mon, Mavis. Demon's gone. Just gotta deal with these fuckers and it's over."

And just like that, Mavis stepped into appearance beside him, a smile playing along her lips. The iron dragon that stood above the dark mages suddenly froze before dissolving into thin air, and the girl clasped her hands before her lips with a smug look.

Chi screamed her frustrations, storming her feet as she glared at the blood that hovered above her hand. "How?!" she screeched. "How!? Never have I-"

"Damn, lady," Gajeel muttered, carefully setting Levy on her own two feet when the solid-script mage suddenly demanded he do so. He glared at the red-haired woman, who was spattering blood with each step she took. "Chill the hell out."

"You have not the strength required," Mavis said softly, "To control the pure magic of a dragon. Your dark magic cannot keep hold over the blood of the iron dragon Metalicana, a dragon who has touched the light of a fairy."

" _Chi_ …" Kira gritted out, furious, as the woman gave another furious cry, her teeth bared viciously in her anger. " _Enough_."

Chi stopped in her tracks, as if forced to do so. "...yes, sir," she muttered. And just like that, the woman was drawing her hood up to hide her face, her eyes giving a final and promising gleam before being hidden by the shadows it created.

There was a silence as each side calculated the possible results of what might happen - particularly on Mavis' behalf. Suddenly, Kira jerked his head. Kage vanished, and Mavis narrowed her eyes, twirling away and calling in a voice that Levy was sure only they could hear, "Gajeel Redfox, see to the shadow and blood mages. Levy McGarden, the reader. Pantherlily, assist me, and Metalicana -"

"Distract their leader, Mavis," the dragon said darkly. "I call the bastard who touched the little one."

"You able to walk?" Gajeel asked Levy.

She slowly nodded. "I'll be fine. Go."

Iron scales rippled across his flesh, and a malicious grin stretched across Gajeel's face as he literally stepped into her shadow, disappearing to become a part of it for the time being. Shock flashed across Kira's face for just an instant before he was distracted by Lily launching himself at him.

Chi grinned, but before she could step in Levy's direction, Rida threw an arm out to stop her, gaze locked on the solid-script mage that was suddenly scribbling a word out into thin air. "Chi, go assist Kiken. I will handle the fairy."

All hell broke loose, and that was putting it lightly.

From where she'd taken shelter for the time being, allowing an illusion of herself to stand and distract Kira as Lily set to work on slaying him, Mavis grimaced. She hated death - detested it with a passion - but sometimes, it was necessary.

And from the calculations that were forming in her head…

She knew without a doubt that they would have to kill the black mages here. Turning them in wouldn't be enough to keep this from happening again. She narrowed her eyes as she felt rather than saw her illusion dissapate, and Kira roar his rage.

Mavis could remember when all of them had first set foot in the guild she'd created. She'd known instinctively that there was something off, but as Macao had been in charge - it had happened during the Tenrou incident, at the very beginning, before they'd realized something was wrong - there was nothing anyone could do against them when he agreed to allow them into the guild.

Years had gone by before anyone had realized what was going on and by the time Romeo - Mavis would forever be grateful for the little boy who had refused to lose hope for his nakama - had realized they were up to something, all five had left, disappearing into thin air, successful in their attempts to obtain whatever knowledge they had sought.

Even after leaving the guild, Mavis knew she could be seen by them.

And it was for that reason that she was dead in the center of the battle field.

Even after vowing to never involve herself in war ever again.

Mavis sighed to herself. Only her fairies could convince her to assist in something she hated. The blonde child closed her eyes for a moment, focusing, and then snapped them open when a shadow fell over.

Kage smirked. "How well," he whispered, voice hoarse, and Mavis realized that he was injured, blood streaking the side of his face from a blow that had likely not only broken skin, but the bone beneath it. "Can the original fight?"

Mavis stepped through the wall behind her, her gaze hardening. She heard the howl of outrage followed by a scream of pain and silence and the founder of Fairy Tail mourned the loss of life.

She hadn't said a word to her fairies, yet they seemed to know.

Today, they would be forced to kill.

And while she knew it wouldn't bother Gajeel Redfox or his father too badly, or even Pantherlily too much…

Levy McGarden would be another story.

* * *

 _So some of you may be wondering why this is so early. I have a ton of stuff going on tomorrow and my editor and I agreed that it would be best to post this a day early. :D Hope you enjoyed! Thanks to reviewers (ShanaDumblond, ilftnatsu, and SafireRansomePoseidonsDaughter), and thanks to those who favorited and followed!_


	9. Chapter 8

**. Shattered Reality .**

* * *

Levy had fought desperately for her life before on several occasions. Phantom Lord, several missions, Tenrou, and the Eclipse Gate situation were all very good examples of these times.

But this...this was different. How, she wasn't sure. But it was, and Levy found herself wondering if it might have to do with her head injuries as she fought as viciously as she could with Rida, who'd turned out to be better with weapons that didn't have anything to do with magic. Her magic wasn't used for offensive _or_ defensive purposes, but give the woman a knife... Levy was having issues defending herself.

Rida lashed out with a sneer on her face, and Levy forced herself to jerk aside, using the woman's momentum against her. Unbalanced by the attempt, Rida was fairly easy to knock off her feet, but she was almost immediately back up on them despite the fact that she was a good deal older than Levy.

Levy gritted her teeth, avoiding the knife again before jogging back a few steps to use her magic. "Solid-Script: Ice!"

A series of ice shards bombarded the reader mage, who shrieked as she was blinded and Levy used her chance to scribble another word into the air. Flames blasted at her a moment later and for the first time in her life, Levy wished they'd brought the dragon slayer who couldn't seem to stop the destruction he caused. Natsu would have been more than helpful in this situation...damn they should have brought he and the rest of his team, Makarov's orders be damned!

"Got you little fairy."

The whisper had her whirling around in time to see Kiken, bloodied and missing a few of his sharpened teeth alongside an arm, reaching for her.

"Metalicana!" Gajeel's voice shouted, a hand darting out, as if expecting something to be handed to him. The iron dragon's gaze flashed with annoyance and anger, but he gave his son what he wanted, tossing the weapon to him.

And then there was a sword of energy slamming through Kiken's throat, the point stopping only a few inches from Levy's face. Gajeel ripped his arm free, sword disappearing, and he grinned a dark grin as he spat, "Fucker."

"G-Gajeel?"

The malicious intent in his eyes vanished at the sound of her voice, and Levy fought the urge to whimper her relief. For a moment, just one brief second, she'd been worried that what the black mages believed would happen had occurred.

But the man before her was, without a doubt, Gajeel Redfox of Fairy Tail, not Kurogane of Phantom Lord.

Thank the heavens for that!

"Watch your back, shrimp," he told her warningly, then turned to block a strike as Chi came screaming out of nowhere, her hood flying from her face as she fought to not only draw blood, but obtain it as well. He charged forward, seeming to melt into the enemy's shadow as he did so.

Levy returned her attention to Rida, who was clutching a hand to her eyes, wailing that it burned, that she couldn't see, and Levy pressed her lips together, preparing to make a blow that would at least knock her unconscious, but Lily saved her the trouble by simply sending Rida's head tumbling to the ground.

Fighting the urge to vomit and thanking the Exceed, Levy turned to rest her eyes on their final opponents. Mavis was nowhere to be seen, but Levy could see what might have been the mangled body of Kage. Rida's blood was spilling across the ground, as was Kiken's, mixing together in a pool of red sludge. Chi looked hysterically happy as she battled Gajeel, and Kira wore a strange smirk as he fought Metalicana, who was looking ready to lose his mind out of rage when a streak of black struck his shoulder, sending him staggering back a few steps. Lily, mind set into battle mode, had gone to help the iron dragon, leaving her to stand there. She tried to ignore her pounding head in favor of stumbling over to help but nearly toppled over, wincing.

 _Damn_ , she hated head injuries!

"I got this," she scolded herself, ignoring the pain that accompanied her panting for breath as she set to work on helping Gajeel as best as she could. He didn't physically acknowledge her, but she could tell that he realized exactly when she started to help. When her Solid-Script: Shield appeared before him, blocking a strike from Chi's blade, he didn't hesitate to take advantage of it and slam a hand into the woman's gut, making her choke and wheeze.

And then everything turned around - and not in a good way.

As if no longer caring for Chi, Gajeel whirled around and launched himself into the battle between Kira and Metalicana and Lily, his face emotionless. It took Levy only an instant to realize why.

Chi held her hand above her head with cackling laughter, a small drop of blood hovering over it. She shot Levy a malicious grin, then tilted her head back and opened her mouth, closing her eyes in bliss as the drop of blood fell into her mouth. When she straightened and gave an evil grin, Levy decided that the injuries created by Kiken were _nothing_ in comparison of what tortures Chi had probably thought up.

Dangerously shining eyes locked with Levy's brown ones, and Chi squealed. "My turn."

"Damn," Levy whispered, and then hissed, "Solid-Script: Shield!" A bigger shield than she'd ever produced sprung up to protect her as Chi practically threw herself at her. She climbed over it as if it was nothing and Levy turned and sprinted away, knowing better than to think that her solid-script magic would do much against the blood mage.

Chi giggled, her voice hysterical. "I'm gonna get you, little fairy," she sang as she skipped after her. "And I'm going to make you _scream_."

Levy swung around an emptied and destroyed fountain. Chi simply swarmed over the side of it, still singing about her plans for Levy, for how she planned to flay the flesh from her bones, how she planned to bathe in her blood, and keep her pretty blue-haired head on display for anyone and everyone to see when Kira was dead.

Clearly, Levy thought as she ducked to avoid a knife thrown her way, Chi had turned against her ally.

And she was just as good with knives as Rida had been, she added onto that when a stinging pain shot through her leg followed by the trickle of sticky liquid as it dribbled down her leg.

So maybe some of the others in the guild wouldn't have had to run, but sometimes, it was better to figure out which battles you couldn't fight. Because knowing those could save your life. And Levy wasn't stupid; there was no way in _hell_ she could fight against Chi. Hence the reason she whispered "Solid-Script: Copy", leaving a copy of herself so that she could get away. She glanced over her shoulder in time to see Chi pounce on it, wailing and screaming her disappointment when the illusion vanished beneath her claws.

"You tricked me!" Chi cried, staggering to her feet, scowling. Her cloak had long since been lost, and she stood proudly in her near-nude body, the scraps of what looked like bloodied leather stitched together to hide the necessary parts. Dried blood flaked off of different portions of her white skin, mixing with the fresh that trickled down her from her fight with Gajeel. A pout slid onto her face. "That's not very fair, little fairy...what fun is there in tricks? Let's play a little, get to know each other better...it'll be fun! For me, anyways." She giggled, licking her lips. "You'll be too busy drowning in your own blood."

"You," Levy gasped as she backed away, "Are _insane_."

Chi paused. "Insane doesn't even begin to cover it, honey."

Metalicana suddenly slid in front of Levy, planting himself between them. His face was hard with fury, and Levy spared a glance over her shoulder only to discover that he was there as well, fighting Kira as he had been before, blood dripping from dozens of wounds as her three companions struggled to bring the black mage down.

Oh.

She understood.

Chi, however, appeared to _not_.

 _Thanks, Mavis,_ Levy cheered mentally as she bolted, taking advantage of the distraction the First Master had provided for her. Chi screamed her frustrations, stamping her feet on the ground like a furious child as she shrieked, "Move, move, move! Why is no one cooperating?!"

"I wonder why?" Levy hissed sarcastically before diving straight into the middle of more danger when Chi slashed through the illusion, realizing what it was. The real Metalicana stopped the Iron Dragon's Roar he'd shot at Kira, startled when she nearly scrambled right into the attack.

"The fuck are you doing?" he demanded, catching her by the arm before she could stumble away.

"Trying to stay alive until you guys can help me," she snipped back, not having the time to be patient. "All three of you need to focus on Kira, but Chi's still alive in case you haven't noticed! She has Gajeel under her control...damn him for not being careful!"

"Thought he smelled different...not a bad thing," he admitted. "Was losin' before the brat interfered. Keep running, little one." His red eyes met hers seriously. "Just keep runnin'. We'll help as soon as we can, but we can't abandon this fight now. I'll send the cat to help you. Almost out of power anyways." He touched her forehead with an almost affectionate gaze before sending her off.

"That's the advice you give?" Levy growled to herself, swerving to avoid another strike from the blood mage as she dove forwards, nearly scuttling across the ground like a spider rather than getting to her feet. " _Run_? Fat lot of help that'll do when I'm dead on the ground!"

 _Shulk!_

Levy screeched in pain, her leg crumpling and her hands instinctively clutching at the area around the knife that had embedded itself in her calf, effectively making her incapable of running any further.

Chi giggled as she crawled towards her, blood dripping as her hair fell into her face. If Levy didn't know any better, she would have thought that this was the demon rather than the one she'd been saved from earlier. "Got you," she sang, "I got you, little fairy! Master Zeref would be so proud...he'll praise me for eating your bones, for tasting your blood. Maybe he'll even let me help Master E.N.D…."

The Fairy Tail mage's blood ran cold, and she gritted her teeth against the pain, struggling to scramble backwards. A shaky hand yanked the knife from her leg and she brandished it with a flash of fear.

How the _hell_ was she supposed to live through this? She'd accepted the dangerous possibilities upon first discovering the job on the board a week and a half, nearly two weeks ago. But she hadn't really considered that anything bad would happen once Metalicana had shown up. After all, what could kill a dragon?

Clearly, she had her answer.

Chi smacked the knife from her hand and straddled the small mage, pinning her wrists with each hand, leaning over so that her flaking nose nearly brushed Levy's. Her eyes were wild with excitement, her breath coming in sharp pants as she studied the blood that stained Levy's cheeks, face, and neck. She inhaled sharply, then giggled, her breath washing over Levy's face. "You smell _amazing_ , little fairy...I'm jealous. Kiken got to taste you before I did." She pouted, disappointed, but then grin, another blade materializing in her hand. She pressed it to Levy's throat just enough that it cut the skin, and Levy tensed. "Oh, well. At least I get to have some fun, right?"

Levy did the only thing she could think of. "Go to hell," she snarled, and then spat in Chi's face, just like she had when the girl had taunted her.

Chi's face twisted with rage and she screamed, pressing the knife down harder. "Learn your place, bitch," she seethed. "I could kill you and you couldn't do a _thing_ to stop me, the blood demon Chi."

 _...well damn. Looks like we missed out on something_ really _important...thank you, Reina, for failing to realize there were two freaking demons!_ Levy screamed mentally, kicking desperately to free herself.

"Buh-bye," Chi suddenly crooned, dragging her tongue up the side of Levy's face to taste the blood there. Levy swore in disgust, and then choked when the blade drew firmly along her throat.

At the same moment, Metalicana's form rippled, and a roar of triumph escaped the iron dragon as Gajeel tore out the throat of the man that had nearly killed them both. The dragon slayer's eyes flickered with confusion for a brief moment, a near replica of the confusion in Chi's when she lifted her gaze to check what had happened.

Levy saw her chance and took it.

With the last ounce of strength she had, Levy reached out and snatched up the knife that had been knocked from her hand. She didn't hesitate a moment before shoving as hard as she could, sending Chi tumbling hard onto her shoulder. The solid-script mage swallowed thickly, and then drove the throwing knife straight into the woman's eye, ignoring the searing blood that spattered her hand and arm.

Slumping backwards, Levy closed her eyes, breathing harshly, grimacing at the warm liquid that had begun to pool around her shoulders and head, dying her usually blue-hair scarlet. Her eyes fluttered shut as she tried to keep an ear out for if her dragon slayer was okay, and she gave a faintly relieved smile when she heard him swearing colorfully over the fact that he couldn't remember what had happened.

The massive dragon that towered above them all continued to roar in triumph, declaring their victory for everyone and anyone to hear. Gajeel and Lily exchanged relieved looks that quickly changed to that of alarm when both came to the same realization: a certain woman wasn't there celebrating with them.

"Fuck!" Gajeel bellowed, his nose telling him all he needed to know. He flung himself in Levy's direction, pausing only to kick the body of the now dead Chi as far away as he could, not flinching at the cracks that came from it. He dropped down beside Levy, Lily landing beside her head with an anxious look. "Oi! Levy! Can you hear me?"

Her eyes opened just barely, dulled with pain. "'Jeel," she managed to slur out.

"I can temporarily heal her."

His head snapped up to look at the blonde girl that stood before them, her hands clasped anxiously over her mouth. It wasn't long before Metalicana had joined them, red eyes glittering with worry for the young woman. "Wha'?"

"I can temporarily heal her," Mavis repeated. Her green eyes locked with Gajeel's. "It will give you time to get her to a healer, Gajeel Redfox, but I will not be able to appear before anyone for quite some time. It will require using your magic as well as Metalicana's. You must move quickly, is that clear? The town is only a half-hour's walk, but I suggest that Metalicana take you there through the skies. It will give her the best chance of recovery, as it will give the healers time to prepare for the blood that will come."

Gajeel growled. "You kidding me?"

"No," she said sharply, "I assure you I am not." Mavis glanced at Metalicana. "We must move quickly. Lend me your power."

"You're fucking mental if you think I won't," Metalicana muttered, bending over so that she could gently grasp his head. There was a brief moment where the iron dragon's humanoid appearance flickered for a moment before he pulled away. Mavis turned on Gajeel, who grumbled but allowed her to do the same, grimacing at the tug on his already low magic stores.

Mavis dropped to her knees beside Levy, ignoring the splash of blood as she knelt in it. Her hands came to rest over the open wound on the mage's throat, her green eyes focused. "Move quickly," she reminded them as she pulled back, and then faded from sight.

Levy didn't wake from the unconsciousness she'd fallen into, but at least she wasn't losing so much blood now. "Let's go," Gajeel demanded, carefully picking the petite woman up. "Lil', fly ahead and let people know while we get ready. They need to be prepared for a dragon and get ready to heal her."

"Of course." Lily's wings sprouted into existence at his back despite his obvious exhaustion, and he took off.

Metalicana easily shrugged into his dragon form for the who knows how many time that day. **"Quickly, brat. The little one is still in danger."**

"Yeah, I know," he muttered. Gajeel paused to take one final look around the battleground, scowling at the body of the dead blood demon before carefully making his way onto Metalicana's back. He balanced himself so that Levy was cradled safely in his lap and so that neither of them would fall off during the likely short flight. Only then did he speak up.

"Let's go."

* * *

To say the healers that awaited them were surprised was an understatement, as was saying that the entire town was surprised.

The entire place was in a fucking _uproar_ over the sight of Metalicana, and Gajeel couldn't figure out for the life of him why they were so concerned about the iron dragon when there was clearly more important matters at hand.

Lily was there already, exhausted and barely standing on his own two feet at this point before a group of three. "Found 'em," was all he said before the Exceed toppled over unconscious.

The youngest, a woman who couldn't be more than seventeen, scooped him up and said softly, "Bring her this way, sir, we've b-been made aware of what happened. But, um, I don't think _he_ can come with if he's l-like that." She waved at Metalicana.

Metalicana was beside them in his much smaller form in an instant. "Fine. Just get a move on," he grunted. "She ain't got much time left 'fore she starts bleeding again."

"R-right," she mumbled, then bustled her companions as well as Gajeel and Metalicana towards a smaller looking hospital. "We don't have the best care possible with how small the town is," she explained as she strode quickly down a hallway, looking more confident now that she was in her professional environment. "But we'll do our best. With the sounds of it, though, we can't guarantee anything."

"Of course," was the only response she got from Metalicana, as Gajeel was too busy baring his fangs warningly at a man that moved too quickly to get Levy into a position that would allow them to help her and made her cry out softly.

"Watch it," he threatened, "Or your head's the next one I take off. Got it?"

"Y-yes, sir," he stammered, terrified for his life.

And then, she was gone alongside Lily, who the woman had promised was simply going to a decent place to rest for the time being. Metalicana mused that the iron dragon slayer should get himself looked at as well, but shrugged when he only received a scowl for his suggestion. Metalicana held his arms up in surrender. "Just a suggestion, brat." He scratched the back of his head with a wince, twisting his head to examine the dozen or so wounds that all leaked black mist. They were only scrapes in comparison to the wound he'd received in their first encounter, but they still hurt like hell, and he was grateful the first wound had practically healed overnight.

Damn, he liked being a dragon!

But he was left with a dilemma when it came to the magic that had buried itself in the wounds, as was Gajeel, who supported just as many as he did, if not more. The dragon slayer didn't seem to care, however, focused completely on trying to listen for Levy.

So, with Gajeel effectively distracted, Metalicana went to work on drawing the magic from his son's wounds. He didn't notice, and the iron dragon was distantly reminded of the times from so long ago, when he'd taken care of a child who could have cared less for him or anyone else after being abandoned by parents who couldn't bring themselves to take care of the child they'd given birth to.

He chuckled to himself. This was his brat alright. From deciding he didn't have a care in the world to being a mage of Fairy Tail.

Gajeel suddenly snapped his head around and glared at Metalicana, angrily smacking his hands away. "The hell are you doing, old man? Cut it out. Not dealing with anything until my bookworm's okay," he said angrily.

Metalicana rolled his eyes. "You want to die before she wakes up, brat? Got that black magic in your wounds. I'll be happy to leave you to let them get infected, but it needs to come out."

"Fine," he muttered. "Don't touch 'em after that."

The iron dragon smirked. "The little one will be fine, brat. Give her some credit; she may not be as strong as some of your guild, but she sure as hell ain't weak."

"What, do ya think I'm stupid? I know she ain't weak," he growled in response, then fell silent.

The duo stood in the hallway for what seemed like hours before the young woman was back, cleaning her hands of blood. She paused when she saw the dragon and his slayer, startled, then nodded to a place behind them. "There's a waiting room, you could have gone and sat down...oh! I guess you're injured, too, hold on, I'll take a look at the wounds. I'll-"

Snickering because Gajeel's red eyes were glittering angrily at the obvious avoiding of the subject they cared about, Metalicana spoke up in his rumbling voice. "How's our friends?"

Her lips were set into a firm line. "The, uh, cat is okay. He's resting. His magic stores were severely depleted, but he'll be alright. As for the girl…" She shook her head. "We were in the middle of setting her ribs when this wound opened up on her neck… I don't know how it happened, but we made sure to deal with that before doing anything else. In other words, she's lost a hell of a lot of blood, but…" The young woman smiled gently at them. "From the looks of it, you'll be seriously lucky. We gave her some transfusions of blood from the stores we had, patched her up, and then added some medication to the mix. She won't wake up for a while, so why don't we get your wounds looked at, too? I'm sure she won't appreciate the fact that we haven't looked at you yet, so let's fix that."

Metalicana grinned as Gajeel opened his mouth to protest, but was interrupted by a glare on behalf of the young woman before them. She propped her hands on her hips, just _daring_ him to say otherwise, and the iron dragon slayer finally just clamped his mouth shut before allowing her to haul him off to have his injuries looked at.

It was good to be alive, Metalicana thought as he watched his son enter another room.

* * *

The silence in the guild was no different than it had been from two weeks before. It was still quiet, there was no energy, no cheerful drinking (though there _was_ plenty of drinking on a certain card mage's behalf). And outside, it was the same. Anyone who passed Fairy Tail's guildhall fell quiet as they did so, hurrying by, and the entire town of Magnolia was nowhere nearly as loud as it had once been.

It appeared that when Fairy Tail was down, so were the civilians around them, and it wasn't surprising. Fairy Tail was, after all, the source of life that had protected them for generations.

Within the interior of one of the rooms in the guild, a pair of people looked down at another. A third person was listening intently to what they were murmuring to each other, still pretending to be asleep - and silently snorting and thinking that they _really_ should have known better.

Natsu Dragneel sleeping when Lucy had yet to wake up from the curse that had been placed upon her? As if!

He pretended to be asleep though, knowing better than to think that Makarov and Mira would actually tell him what they were discussing if he questioned them. His eyes remained shut and he continued to breathe in and out deeply, giving off the impression that he had, after days and days, finally passed out, his fingers twined with those of the unconscious blonde.

"Any word?" Mira's voice was soft and anxious.

"No," Makarov answered grimly. "No sign of them yet. Not since that first letter. But it's only been two weeks. I'm sure they're fine. It'll take them time to deal with such an issue."

"They need to send a letter...should we send one to them?" Mira questioned, thoughtful. "Or better yet, one or two other mages? Erza's mentioned looking at the request board recently...Cana has nothing better to do, and Laxus-"

"They'll be fine, Mira," Makarov interrupted firmly. "I have faith in Gajeel, Levy, and Pantherlily. There's no need to fret and make everyone more worried than they already are. Jet and Droy are panicked as it is already, with her taking so long to get back...and they don't even know what job they agreed to take."

"I suppose so…"

Silence again.

Natsu silently sighed in his mind. So nothing new then, eh? Not surprising. Nothing good ever happened as of late. So, with a grumble, the fire mage slowly lifted his head, continuing his sleepy charade by rubbing at one eye. "The hell you guys doing?" he muttered.

Mira's face flickered with amusement. "We came up here to check on you and Lucy. Any change?" He shook his head with a heavy sigh, glancing at his partner's face. It remained peaceful, as if she hadn't a care in the world.

"I'm sure all will turn out well, Natsu," Makarov reassured him. "We are Fairy Tail, after all."

Natsu shrugged. "Just don't want to be alone again," he muttered, and then dropped his head to rest his face on his and Lucy's entwined fingers, resting his cheek on the back of her hand. "Now can you leave? I want to sleep."

They gave him sympathetic looks and left.

Natsu forced himself to smile faintly, closing his eyes.

Natsu Dragneel? Sleep?

As if.

* * *

 _Next chapter! Love Metalicana as usual. Chi's a bit freaky, yes? Thanks to reviewers (ShanaDumblond, Gothazon, SafireRansomePoseidonsDaughter, and ilftnatsu), and thanks to those who favorited and followed. Hope you enjoyed!_


	10. Chapter 9

**. Shattered Reality .**

* * *

It was two days before Levy woke up.

In that time, Metalicana dealt with the aftermath of their work - mostly just destroying what was left and destroying the bodies of the three mages and two demons just to be sure. Gajeel wandered around town, bored during the nights, when he'd been kicked out of the small hospital, and Lily usually accompanied him once he'd rested enough.

So when the solid-script mage opened her eyes in the seconds before visiting hours ended, Gajeel put his foot down and demanded they let him stay for at least a few hours past them. The young woman who had cared for Gajeel's injuries, a woman by the name of Mari, had been in charge of caring for Levy and had reluctantly agreed, hurrying to check over a few things. "Don't move too much, and don't talk for a little bit," Mari instructed, smiling reassuringly at the dazed blue-haired woman. "You've been unconscious for a couple days and we want to make sure your wounds are healing well - particularly that nasty one on your neck. It didn't really affect your vocal chords, but I don't want you risking anything."

Levy faintly raised her arm, which was heavily bruised from the beating she'd gotten from Kiken, and gave her a shaky thumbs up to show she understood before turning her dark eyes onto Gajeel, a hesitant smile flashing across her face when she saw the look on his own.

She was in for a lecture, it appeared.

What made her want to laugh, though, was the fact that it was _Gajeel_ who planned to scold her for not being careful enough. Like he had any room to talk! He was the one who'd managed to get controlled by the blood mage - no, she corrected herself. Demon. Chi had been a demon. A scary as hell demon that she had killed… Levy's gaze darkened at the thought.

She had killed someone, even if they were a demon.

Never before had she been the one to drive a blade into another's body.

Levy bit her lip, tears rising to her eyes, and Gajeel's annoyed look vanished, replaced by one of wariness. "Oi," he huffed. "What you upset about, woman?"

She gave him a look, as if to ask, _"Really?"_

He shrugged, then eyed her with piercing red eyes. "The fuck were you thinking?"

Levy scowled at him. It wasn't as if she'd _wanted_ to get into a fight with the weird lady! At least _she_ hadn't been under anyone's control… Levy arched an eyebrow, crossing her arms slowly and wincing the entire time, ignoring the pain of her chest and arms. Too bad Wendy wasn't around, she thought to herself.

"Stop that," he grumbled, "You're gonna make it worse, shrimp."

She proceeded to stick her tongue out, then smiled brightly at him, ignoring the pain in her face. _Damn_ she had some serious bruising going on… Oh, well. At least it would go away. Unlike the scar that would form on her throat. She thoughtfully reached up to touch her bound neck, pressing her lips together.

As she did that, Metalicana suddenly swept into the room, Lily beside him. He took one look at the tired solid-script mage, and then gave a grin that showed off his fangs. "Good to see you awake, little one."

She smiled back at him, and then at Lily when the Exceed flew over to greet her.

"Done with the cleanup," Metalicana announced as he shoved Gajeel out of the chair he'd been sitting in. Gajeel swore, catching himself on the ground with a furious snarl as the iron dragon dropped into the chair with a smirk. "Got rid of the bodies - made sure they won't ever do such damage again - and the place of their dark magic is gone."

Levy looked pointedly at them, hoping to hear if there'd been news from back home or Mavis, but Metalicana instead turned to Gajeel, who was glaring at him darkly from where he now stood. "Kiss her better, brat, and then we gotta leave. Mari said we couldn't stay anymore, or she'd get in trouble."

Gajeel huffed. "Fine. But we're comin' back as soon as we can, got it?" He shifted to bid Levy farewell, reaching over the sides of the hospital bed to lightly grasp her chin between his thumb and forehead, red eyes glaring into hers from only a few inches away. "You. Don't be asleep for so long again, ya hear me? Gonna shake you awake if you ain't up by the time I'm here tomorrow. And ya better be talking, 'cause we need to have a chat about you being stupid."

"Gajeel!" Lily said with exasperation coloring his tone. The Exceed sighed heavily and looked at Metalicana for assistance, but the iron dragon only watched the two with an emotionless look in his eyes. What looked like grief flashed through his eyes before he reached over and hauled Gajeel away by the back of his shirt. "Let's go, brat."

Levy only shook her head to herself with care, wincing when her head started to pound from such a simple action.

Only Gajeel.

As soon as they were out the door, Mari was back, looking hustled with a glass in her hand. "Any pain?" she asked. Levy silently tapped her head, wincing as she did so, and Mari gave a reassuring smile. "That's to be expected. You had a few fractures up there...along with a few bones in your wrist and your ribs. The worst of your wounds include that throat of yours and a stab wound in your leg, alongside a crack in your jaw. We stitched up both, as well as a few of the nastier gashes you had. The ones on your leg, throat, and here…" She touched just above a bandage that stretched from her upper arm to her elbow, smiling faintly. "All of them will scar."

Levy slowly nodded, accepting this. She'd expected as much.

"Here's some water, by the way," the healer said, shoving the glass of water she'd been holding in her hand. "Drink. We'll give you another twelve hours before we let you talk, okay? Just to be on the safe side...one of our resident nurses knows a little healing magic, so she's been using it bit by bit on the wound."

 _Got it,_ the solid-script mage thought, sipping at the water and staring wistfully at the doorway her friends and Gajeel had left through. Her throat throbbed painfully as she swallowed, but she ignored it, biting her lip carefully.

She really needed to get word sent to Fairy Tail that they were alright and that their job had been accomplished...she supposed it would be fine now that it was done, right?

Mari took a few more minutes to fuss over a few things, then put her hands on her hips. "You need some rest if you're going to deal with that idiot who won't stop complaining about how slow regular people heal." Levy gave her a look as if to ask _"Which idiot?",_ because honestly? Both Gajeel and Metalicana healed pretty damn fast in comparison to the rest of them. Understanding, Mari laughed. "Both of them wouldn't cut it out...I'm sure you'll be able to tell them off come morning. Come on, let's get you some medicine…"

When the medicine began to drag her under a few minutes later, Levy didn't fight it.

* * *

When Levy awoke again, she was alone in the room. She immediately glanced at the clock that hung on the wall and grimaced. Six in the morning was _way_ too early… But she was wide awake with nothing to do, which sucked. So, Levy swallowed thickly, and rasped weakly, "Damn."

It hurt like _hell_ to talk. Even if the wound hadn't been near her vocal chords, it hurt her jaw to speak. So she decided to try her best to have small answers when people asked her questions. Not. She glanced around, struggling to see if there was something to do until Gajeel, Lily, and Metalicana arrived, and was relieved and amused when she saw the book that rested on a side table beside her bed. She carefully reached over and picked it up, opening it to the last page she'd been on. Settling back to read to herself, Levy smiled faintly. She loved this book.

 _"The queen fairy, her power lost, could only watch from where she lay as the dragon fought furiously to protect she and the rest of her people. The dragon bared his fangs as he stepped over them, just daring the black mage to lay a hand on them. He owed the fairies and their queen his life, and he would give them just that if he had to._

 _"The small woman raised her eyes to the armored chest of the dragon, her eyes gleaming with determination. She would help the dragon, even if it killed her. Ignoring the protests of the ones around her, the queen lifted her hands. Power gathered between them, as bright as the blue sky she'd lived beneath for hundreds of years._

 _"And then she released it. The power struck the dragon in the chest, and the massive creature roared in confusion and pain. Strength filled his limbs, his scales hardened further, and the spell that the mage cast was sent bouncing right off of him._

 _"Sure that he would defeat the man before them, the queen closed her eyes, her body lying limply among the charred grass of what had once been her home, never to breathe another breath."_

Levy chewed carefully on her lip, wincing when it split again and blood trickled down her chin. She hurried to wipe it away, her eyes thoughtful. "Hm," she hummed softly, stroking her fingers over the page. The book went on to describe how the mage was defeated, and how the dragon mourned the fairy for the rest of his lonesome life. And there was even a bit about how the fairies went into hiding.

Which made the solid-script mage wonder if maybe there was some truth to the book. Fairies had never been seen, after all...or as far as she knew.

And she'd seen those golden fields that the author had described as the fairies' new home. The golden fields that she'd curiously waded through for a few heartbeats when the black space around her had been too overwhelming, too painful. She'd brushed her fingertips over that warm grass, tilting her head back to enjoy the gentle sunlight - until the realization that the one she'd grown to love with all of her being was nowhere to be found. Levy remembered fighting to return to the darkness, to claw her way back into awareness and reality so she wouldn't have to be without him.

She was certainly glad she had.

Levy brushed her fingers over the book's cover, tilting her head. She could have _sworn_ she'd seen something huge lying amongst the golden grass...something large and red and scaled with eyes that had just dared her to come any closer, smoke drifting around it in a haze to create an illusion…

She silently searched her mind for any idea of what had happened there, but came up with nothing. Oh, well...maybe Mavis would know? But then the solid-script mage was reminded of the fact that Mavis should have appeared and had yet to do so. "I hope Mavis is alright," Levy hissed to herself between clenched teeth, not daring to open her throbbing jaw.

"She's fine."

Levy's head snapped painfully around, her eyes widening when she saw a familiar smirking dragon. "Metalicana," she gasped, then swore under her breath, cradling her jaw with a pout. How did Natsu get away with the amount of punches Gray gave him and _not_ want to curl up in a corner and cry?

Metalicana snickered, his laughter sounding like that of his son's. "You should be more careful, little one," he said affectionately. "Should get better in a few days...bruise won't go away for a while though."

Levy merely shrugged, not daring to talk just yet.

"Anyways," he huffed, snorting through his nose. "Mavis is fine. She merely had to return to wherever the hell she comes from after using all of her energy and some of mine and the brat's to seal the wound on your neck for a short amount of time. It allowed us to get you here in time. You would not have lived had she not."

Levy pressed her lips together carefully. "I hope I can thank her soon," she said softly. "I really want to thank her."

"I'll thank her for ya," the iron dragon said with a grin. "Should be hearing from her sooner than you anyways." His gaze darkened with a nearly sorrowful look, his hand rising to run through his wildly cropped silver hair. "I can't remain with you three for much longer...what needed to be done has been done. Igneel demands I leave as soon as possible. He thinks it unfair that I spend time with my brat when the other dragons cannot see their own children. As much as I hate it, I do agree."

"I guess it is kinda unfair," Levy murmured carefully. "We'll miss you."

He gave her a warm look, one full of pride. "And I will miss you all as well, little one," he said gently. "But you'll see me again. I'll disobey Igneel's demands if that's what it takes."

Levy giggled. "Don't get yourself into trouble," she said firmly, wincing as she did so. _Damn_ , she wanted something to allow her to talk without feeling the throbbing in her jaw! "Where's 'Jeel?" she said, taking the shortcut and choosing not to say his entire name. "And Lil'?"

Metalicana gave a smug little smirk. "Gajeel was being a smart little bastard," he said sarcastically. "They won't let him in the hospital now."

Levy slowly pinched the bridge of her nose - then swore when she realized that it was sore there, too. "That _moron_ ," she sighed. "And Lil'?" A pause. "How did they get kicked out?"

"Pantherlily is keeping him outside. Thought the brat was gonna blow the place up by the look on his face," Metalicana cackled. "He got pissed when the doctor lady told him not to bother you and that you needed rest. Apparently she overheard him demanding rude questions yesterday and didn't appreciate it. So when she told him off, he told her to mind her own damn business and to fuck off."

Levy sighed. "'Jeel," she muttered, exasperated. She narrowed her eyes in thought. It wouldn't surprise her, she realized, if he -

 _Wham!_

A fist slammed against the window of the room she was staying in. Both looked towards it, Metalicana defensive, Levy amused, and discovered, as expected, Gajeel hauling himself up onto the window ledge. The iron dragon slayer looked furious, and Lily was hovering beside him with his face in his paws. His voice was muffled as he snarled, "Open the goddamn window. Now."

Levy giggled.

Metalicana only stared at his son in shock before cracking up, throwing his head back and laughing. The sound was like iron screeching against iron, and Levy winced at the sound but said nothing. When he finally opened the window, Gajeel glared at him and slid inside, waiting until Lily had flown in before slamming it shut. "Really? Couldn't help me out sooner?"

Metalicana smirked. "Nah. Like to watch you struggle over stupid things. Shows how little your skills have improved over the years."

Gajeel seemed to puff up with anger before Levy laughed softly, croaking out painfully, "You should apologize to Mari, maybe then you won't have to climb through the window."

He frowned. "You should shut up. You sound horrible."

"Gajeel, that's not a kind thing to say," Lily scolded, rolling his eyes.

"I'm with the cat on this," Metalicana huffed.

"No one cares what you think, you ancient piece of scrap metal."

"One more word, brat," Metalicana threatened, red eyes glowing dangerously. "And I'll throw you right back out that window, you hear me? I taught you better than to be rude to your elders and potential mate-"

"Gah!" the iron dragon slayer hissed, glaring at him as Levy's cheeks flushed a brilliant red. "Stop talking about that, old man!"

"I wouldn't say potential," Lily mused to the snickering dragon beside him. "After what we came across in the cave, I'd say it's more than certain."

"Hm...good point, Pantherlily." The iron dragon cackled when Gajeel moved to hit him harshly in the face, but was stopped when an icy cold voice was heard.

"I thought I told you that you were banned from the hospital, Mr. Redfox." Mari's eyes glinted angrily, her lips pulled into a furious frown. Gajeel's eyes snapped wide, then darted to Levy for help. The solid-script mage immediately looked away, fighting to keep a smile from spreading across her face when he answered her.

"Screw off, lady. The hell makes you think I'm leaving my shrimp?"

 _Yeah_ , Levy thought to herself with a soft giggle as Mari exploded and started shouting at him. _Definitely not a potential thing._

* * *

Evening found Levy settled comfortably in the grass of a garden owned by the hospital. Gajeel, Lily, and Metalicana had been booted out after spending the entire day there - Gajeel had put up a fight when they'd been told to leave, reminding Levy of a toddler who didn't get their way, and Metalicana had been forced to drag him out - and as much as she loved all three of them, she was glad to have some time to herself.

Mari had helped her outside under her request, making sure she'd be okay by herself before going to take care of other patients, leaving her with an emergency lacrima that would alert the healer if something was wrong. She'd promised to be back in an hour before leaving.

It was peaceful outside, Levy noticed as she closed her eyes, enjoying chill of the evening air. She'd been bundled up to avoid getting sick, but it was surprisingly warm for the current time of year. Magnolia would soon be having another blizzard, Levy noted to herself. There were usually blizzards throughout the winter, the final one ending the season of snow in March.

Another thought struck Levy, and the young woman's eyes saddened. Lucy had missed Christmas. They all had in their mourning and fear for the unconscious blonde. Perhaps the guild could have their own version of Christmas when she woke up… Levy had gifts she wanted to share with everyone, after all. She just hadn't felt it a good idea to do so when no one else had brought anything to share with their friends.

Levy puffed out a sharp sigh, watching as her breath turned into a white cloud above her face, and then carefully brushed some blue hair out of her eyes. She couldn't _wait_ to get herself another headband...or get her own back from Gajeel. She _knew_ the iron dragon slayer had hidden it somewhere in his pockets, determined to keep it.

 _Jerk_.

Levy heaved out another sigh.

Only she would have these kinds of issues.

 _Crack!_

Levy snapped upright, ignoring the pain that raced through her sore body at the movement. Her gaze darted this way and that, her body tensed and ready for a fight. After days of waiting for ambush - and then getting kidnapped despite their preparations - she was ready to fight or flee at a moment's notice.

But rather than being attacked, Levy was met by the sight of a sharp-eyed woman wearing a red cloak. A woman that Levy recognized immediately.

"Reina?" she said, shocked. Reina shifted uneasily, her gaze darting this way and that, as if she was unhappy to be there and had been forced to come. "I thought-"

"I wanted to apologize," the dragon slayer interrupted, finally locking her eyes with Levy's before dropping them, chewing on her bottom lip anxiously. "I should have stayed and helped with the black mages and the demon-"

"There were two demons, actually," Levy mused. "The one lady was a demon, apparently."

"Chi," Reina mused, and Levy shuddered at the name. "I thought as much, but I wasn't completely sure as to whether or not I was right." She shook her head with a sigh. "Anyhow, I should have stayed and helped. Instead, I left you all to deal with a situation that should have been dealt with by me."

"It's not that big a deal," Levy said with a shrug, grateful for the medication she'd been given not too long ago. It kept the pain away when she talked for the most part - even if it did make her a little tired. "Metalicana, Gajeel, Lily, and I handled it."

"And you almost died in the process," Reina said softly, studying the bandages that covered the solid-script mage from head to foot. "If you had died, it would have been my fault, and I would have never deserved to go back to our guild...I barely deserve to be a member of the guild as it is."

"Nonsense," Levy scolded. "You have a team, right?" Reina nodded slowly. "I'm sure they're glad you didn't take part in the fight, even if they don't know what was happening. You're safe and to them, I bet that's really important."

Reina blinked, her gaze warming at the thought of her teammates - particularly one of them, who she knew would be giving her a rather nasty scolding for scaring the hell out of both him and their younger teammate. "I guess," she said simply. "Still. I apologize."

"And I refuse to accept your apology on grounds that there's no need for it," Levy replied, giving her a careful smile, one that was small, but incredibly happy. "Now. I'm sure you should be heading back, huh? Your team is probably waiting on you."

"I know they are," Reina sighed heavily. "I am uncertain of what's going on with the guild and why you arrived and were so determined to deal with the demon, but I suppose it's safe to leave you to deal with the aftermath...I can't sense any more dark magic."

"All of them are dead," Levy said smiply. "We won. We kept Acnologia from being summoned, and we defeated the demons and the black mages."

"Good." Reina made a face. "I didn't like Chi too much. She freaked even me out a little." She reached up, tugging the cloak up so that it hid the bottom half of her face. "We rarely come by the guildhall, except for when my teammates pick up jobs, but…perhaps I'll make it up to you."

"It would be nice to see you again," Levy agreed.

Reina gave a hesitant smile, and then turned and slipped away, as if she'd never been there. Levy watched her leave carefully, then carefully lay herself down again, closing her eyes to doze until Mari came back to help her back inside. There was a throbbing in her jaw from talking so much, but it was easily ignored, shoved aside by thoughts that filled her mind.

Reina certainly was someone Levy didn't want to cross paths with, the solid-script mage decided. She'd been able to feel the magic coming off of her, and Levy was sure she was S-Class, and if not, close to S-Class. Levy wasn't entirely positive of who her teammates were either, but she remembered seeing two people showing up every now and then, one a fairly strong-looking man and the other an eager looking boy that she would have recognized anywhere, both of them staring at the mission board.

Levy paused.

Did the pair of them have a little something going on? Maybe. For that little boy's sake, she hoped so. He could use some parental figures, even if they were just his teammates.

Damn, she loved Fairy Tail, but its members - especially the mysterious ones - confused the hell out of her.

"Miss McGarden?" Levy opened her eyes to discover Mari standing over her, eyes full of concern. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," Levy answered. With care, Levy sat back up, smiling reassuringly - and then stopping immediately when pain flashed through her. The medicine must have been wearing off, she decided as she allowed Mari to help pull her up. Levy stood on one leg, keeping weight off of the one that Chi had managed to hurl a knife at. "Sorry, I was just...napping."

"It's too cold out here for you to do that," Mari scolded, but wore a look of amusement in her eyes. "Come, let's get you inside...I think you'll be able to leave in a few days so long as you're careful."

"That's great!" Levy said happily, eager to go home. "We'll be traveling for a week, just sitting on trains, so I'm sure that'll help."

"More than likely," Mari agreed.

And with that, Levy allowed the healer to help her inside, limping carefully to avoid hurting herself more.

* * *

 _I love my Reina. :D Started Rave Master alongside my editor...that'll be an interesting experience. Loving Plue of course. Hope you enjoyed and thanks to reviewers (SafireRansomePoseidonsDaughter, Gothazon, and ilftnatsu) alongside those that favorited and followed!  
_

 _ONE MORE THING! A third to this lovely series was added: a one-shot about the Celestial Spirits (mainly Loke) called Shattered Boundaries!_


	11. Chapter 10

**. Shattered Reality .**

* * *

Levy couldn't stop the tears that were falling in endless trails down her face as she walked beside Gajeel, as quiet as a mouse. Every now and then a sniffle would escape her and red eyes - two pairs of them - would dart to her face before moving away. Lily, sprawled out carefully on her bandaged head, remained silent, yet looked as sad as she did.

Levy was still covered in bandages from nearly her head to her toes - particularly a large amount around her throat, which would apparently take some time to heal. But she'd healed enough that she was allowed to leave the hospital and therefore return to Magnolia alongside her nakama. Of course, Gajeel meant more than that to her, but nobody needed to know that for the time being. Besides him.

And Metalicana, too, apparently. But rather than teasing his son and Levy as he'd been doing over the past week, the iron dragon looked stoic, his gaze emotionless as he guided them through town and to the train station that awaited their arrival. Every now and then, the group received looks. Some were happy, some were wary, some were even angry, just daring them to try anything.

Not a single one of them noticed.

When the train station came into view, Levy silently raised a hand to wipe at her teary eyes, and in a silent yet very Gajeel-like attempt at comfort, Gajeel carefully tugged at a lock of her blue hair until she met his gaze. They exchanged looks for a moment before Levy gave a hesitant smile and patted his arm before taking a deep breath and addressing the iron dragon before them.

"Metalicana," she stated, her voice shaking slightly. His entire body snapped around to face her as if being ordered to by some unheard command. His arms were crossed tightly across his chest, his fingers digging into his flesh. His jaw was clenched, and there was a pained look on his face.

Metalicana didn't want to leave them, and looked nearly defiant over it.

Levy only smiled. He'd be back if that look was anything to go by.

The smile she gave him was warm, full of love and affection for the dragon that had raised the powerful mage she'd fallen in love with. And she tried her best to relay her gratitude for everything he'd done to help them as she stood on her toes to hug him as tightly as she could. " _Thank you_ ," the solid-script mage whispered into his ear, squeezing him briefly. The tears were gone, as if never existing.

He'd be back, she told herself to keep them back. And he'd be back as soon as he could.

When Levy had pulled back, Metalicana bared his sharp teeth at her in a nasty grin, affectionately pulling at her hair much like Gajeel had done. "Goodbye, little one. We shall see each other again some day, I'm sure. Keep my brat in line, would ya?"

"I'll try," she said with a choked laugh. She pulled away, reaching up to pull Lily from her head. She held him carefully in her arms, making sure to not make her injuries hurt.

And then Gajeel stepped forward.

The iron dragon slayer's face was carefully emotionless, his eyes narrowed warily. He gently pushed her out of the way, meeting Metalicana's gaze. They studied each other for a moment before Metalicana suddenly reached forward to carefully and gently pat Gajeel on the shoulder, giving his son the same grin he'd given Levy. "Keep that nasty grin on your face, brat. The little one needs you to take care of her. She's strong, but maybe not strong enough to not have a dragon slayer to protect her."

Gajeel scowled. "Like I'd just leave her."

Levy giggled. "We know you wouldn't, Gajeel. Come on, we're going to miss our train." She gave Metalicana a final smile, searching his saddened red eyes, then reached out to gently grasp Gajeel's arm. "Goodbye, Metalicana."

"Goodbye, little one," he said affectionately. He gave his son a final look, waved a little to Lily, and then turned away. All three Fairy Tail mages watched mournfully as he strode rapidly away, his iron cloak rippling along behind him as he drew the hood of it over his head. He suddenly paused, however, and then called out over his shoulder, "Oi! Brat! Tell that runt of the fire bastard's to chill out and that Igneel will show up soon!"

The last they saw of him was the gleam of his cloak before he turned a corner, heading for a road that would lead him out of town.

Gajeel was surprisingly silent as he watched after his father. His gaze was serious, his arms crossed over his chest, and his shoulders were tensed. "See ya, stupid lump of old scrap metal," he suddenly mumbled, then turned and nudged Levy. "C'mon, short stack. Gotta catch the stupid train."

Levy giggled softly, carefully hugging the Exceed in her arms and smiling gently up at the iron dragon slayer. "Right. Let's go home. Maybe Lu will be awake by the time we get there, hm?"

"Maybe," Lily agreed.

The three of them headed into the train station they'd come to. Levy's bag, held by Gajeel from the second she'd made a sound of pain when trying to pick it up, was full of enough supplies and money to last them the entire trip home. Levy's lips twisted into a smile at the memory of the one in charge of the town hurrying to offer them free supplies after learning of just what they'd put a stop to. She leaned her head on Gajeel's arm, ignoring the throbbing pain as she murmured aloud, "Let's hope Wendy's home when we get back. Maybe she'll be able to help me get better a little bit faster."

Gajeel grunted. "Wendy will. She likes to help when she can."

Levy laughed softly, flashing their already purchased tickets at the one who was letting people onto the train that had already arrived. Thankfully, there wouldn't be too many on the train. Not a lot of people liked leaving their home, apparently, and Levy couldn't help but be grateful for it. Too much noise caused her major headaches at the moment - something she was _definitely_ feeling after the walk through town.

They found some seats on the train and Levy cast Gajeel a tired yet sympathetic look as he sank into the seat beside her, his face tight with concentration, as if he was trying his best to _not_ look sick. Smiling gently, she set Lily on the seat opposite of them, and the Exceed pretended not to notice them as he peered out the window. The solid-script mage touched his arm and let her hand simply rest there, digging in the bag he'd set between them for the book about the fairy queen and the dragon.

What the hell...they had time. She might as well read it again, right?

At the look on Lily's face, she laughed softly, the sound raspy. "Sorry, Lily, I can't read it out loud, but you can come read it with me if you want."

"Sure," he agreed readily, hopping over to join them without hesitation. He seated himself in the solid-script mage's lap, and Levy lowered the book so he could see, settling down to get comfortable. A few minutes later, the train lurched forward, and Gajeel made a sound of annoyance.

Levy giggled and lifted a hand to rest over his glove-clad one, which had tightened around the edge of the seat to the point that she thought the fabric might tear. He relaxed just barely at her touch and Levy sighed softly, content. "Can you turn the pages, Lily?"

"Yes," he confirmed, deciding against saying anything about the two.

He'd rather not get thrown out of the moving train's window.

Levy's eyes began to scan the page.

 _"Once upon a time, in a world not so different from our own, there was a dragon that was well-known for the greed he had in regards to his most precious treasure…"_

* * *

When they _finally_ stumbled off of a train for the last time, Levy thought Gajeel was going to fall over and drag her with him. A slight smile was on her face as she stood at his side, letting him lean some of his weight on her. Her knees nearly buckled, but she did her best to hold him up as she eagerly took in the sight of Magnolia.

"We're home," she breathed, a huge smile spreading across her face. It was nearly dawn, the sun just barely beginning to tickle the roofs of the buildings around them as they left the train station. Lily hovered in the air beside them, carrying her bag for them.

"Home," Gajeel grunted in agreement, looking ill. The solid-script mage giggled, kissing his jaw, the closest she could get to his cheek with the way he held himself. "C'mon, woman, gotta check in with Gramps."

Levy murmured her agreement and the trio set off, Gajeel removing his weight from her after a few moments of walking. Looking like he felt better, the iron dragon slayer crossed his arms, red eyes searching every shadow they passed suspiciously.

She smiled faintly to herself. They'd be searching the shadows for demons for years, as would Lucy when the celestial mage woke up. This whole thing had destroyed them mentally, and would scar all of them for years to come...though Levy didn't think the nightmares that haunted her mind were anywhere near as bad as Lucy's. Chi was a completely different creature than the Marked that haunted Lucy.

It had been a month since they'd left Magnolia to destroy the demon that had harmed their nakama. An entire month, in which they'd met with Metalicana and Mavis, a new dragon slayer who was apparently a member of their guild, and several people Levy never wanted to meet again. An entire month of danger and near-death experiences, of desperate attempts to stay alive and healing.

And Levy wouldn't have given up everything they'd gone through for the world.

A thought suddenly struck her and Levy moaned in exasperation, resting her forehead in a hand. "Damn it, I forgot! My rent...damn! I don't have a place to stay in anymore...I'll have to move out tomorrow, and I can't even sleep in it one more night because it would wake everyone else up...ugh, I'll see if I can sleep in the guildhall…"

Gajeel rolled his eyes, ruffling her hair. "You're comin' with me, shrimp. Ain't letting ya out of my sight for a while yet."

Levy's lips twisted into an amused smile. "...thanks, Gajeel," she answered, patting his arm gratefully.

 _I hope you have enough space for my books…_

"I hope Master will be there already," Lily commented as they turned a corner. A familiar building towered above the rest of them, and Levy's heart twisted excitedly at the familiar emblem that decorated a flag that waved high above, on the highest point of the roof. "It will be easier to speak about what we went through without others eavesdropping and deciding they deserve to hear…"

"Same," Levy agreed, holding a hand out for her bag. Lily handed it to her and she swung it over her shoulder before snatching the Exceed out of the air and placing him on her head. He didn't protest, tired despite their week long train rides.

When they slipped inside the already unlocked doors, Levy nearly cried. _Home,_ she thought. _We're truly home._

Levy glanced around the room, searching it for any signs of life. There wasn't anyone there - a huge surprise to them all, as there was a huge mess. Levy frowned, suspicious of a raging dragon slayer and hoped that nothing bad had happened in their absence. A light shining from a closed door caught her attention, and she quietly tugged Gajeel over to it.

She paused outside before knocking sharply on the door that led to the guildmaster's office. She cleared her throat. "Master?" she called softly, "Are you in there?"

The door opened only a moment later. Makarov stared up at them with surprise. "...Levy," he finally realized. "Gajeel. Pantherlily."

Levy smiled faintly at him, tears rising to her eyes. She'd missed the one who'd played a father figure to them all for years, even if she'd been gone for longer before.

...damn, nearly dying put a lot of things into perspective…

"Hi," she greeted faintly, aware of the fact that he was staring at the bandages that were wrapped around her. Gajeel had long since healed. "We're home."

Makarov gave her a huge smile, tears shining in his own eyes. "I can see that. Welcome home, brats. I take it you were successful in what you set out to do?"

Levy gave a soft laugh. "Definitely. We have quite the story for you, Master."

"Yo, iron freak!"

Gajeel's head snapped around at this hissed insult. His gaze filled with annoyance - and then with surprise when he discovered a broadly grinning Natsu. Levy tilted her head. The dragon slayer looked...happy, radiant. His entire body still showed signs of exhaustion from not sleeping for days and days on end, and there were now bruises and scrapes on his bared chest and face, but he looked beyond happy, his eyes sparkling and his smile big enough to give it all away.

"She's awake?" Levy gasped, clapping her hands over her mouth. Her form trembled at the thought, her eyes sparkling when he gave a nod.

"Yeah," Natsu replied, giving a barked laugh. "Luce woke up yesterday. Waited until Erza dragged my ass out on a job to wake up. She's a mess, but...she's awake. We had a party last night to celebrate. Ya guys missed out. Me and Sting - Sabertooth freaks showed up - had a competition to see who could eat the most. Bastard beat me."

Levy couldn't blame her best friend for being a mess. Not after being told about what had been happening in her mind. "I'm glad," she said truthfully, beaming just as widely as Natsu.

"It'll be good to have Bunny Girl back," Gajeel agreed in a grumble, as Lily gave a happy smile.

"Why don't you go wake Lucy up," Makarov told Natsu, looking amused by his rumpled appearance. "Get a shirt on while you're at it, boy. You're lucky that cat of yours is asleep. We'll be out in a little bit, I'd like to talk with them before Lucy sees them."

"Sure," Natsu agreed, eager to get back to his celestial mage. He waved, then disappeared to go wake her up.

Levy wiped unshed tears from her eyes, beaming happily at the thought of her friend being away. "Come on, let's hurry up. I want to see Lu and then go get some sleep. We got a lot of rest on the trains, but it wasn't the same as getting proper sleep on a bed…"

They entered Makarov's office, the small man closing the door behind them before demanding, "Tell me all that happened on your job. Do you need me to call on Wendy or Porlyusica for any injuries that need to be seen to?"

"No," Levy told him as Gajeel grunted in disagreement. "They're fine...I'll ask Wendy to look at them in the morning. She _is_ here, right?" Makarov nodded, waving them to a set of chairs. Lily simply remained sprawled out on her blue-haired head, not bothered by the hairs that tickled his nose. "Good. Well, then. We'll tell you what happened - or at least I will, I don't know if Gajeel's up to talking after a week full of trains..."

"I'll assist," Lily offered.

Levy sank into the chair, Gajeel grumbling as he dropped into the one beside her. Levy licked her lips, and then began to speak. "You got our letter when we arrived, right?"

"Yes," Makarov told her. "We received your letter. I was worried when no other letter came after it, however…"

Levy flinched. "Sorry. We were really busy...when we got there, we decided to look around town. Gajeel split apart from Lily and I, and we went searching through town for the demon, thinking that it might be there. Rather than finding the demon, however, we found someone else." Her eyes warmed. "The iron dragon, Metalicana, decided to show up and help us out."

Makarov's eyes were sharp with surprise. "Metalicana? The dragon who raised you, Gajeel?"

Gajeel grunted. "Yeah. Bastard wanted to tag along, so we let 'im."

Levy giggled at his attitude, then continued. She reported everything that had happened, including the arrival of Mavis and a fairly detailed description of Chi that had a worried look appearing on more than one person in the room - though one of the two refused to let her notice it.

Saying that Makarov was surprised that they'd gotten to meet Reina was an understatement. They'd been gawked at for nearly a full minute before Gajeel had lost his temper over it, growling and demanding to know what was up with this. But Makarov had become surprisingly reluctant to give out any information, and they'd soon given up on learning anything new that they could about Reina and her teammates.

When she'd finally finished telling their tale, Levy sat back, rubbing her throat. It had healed nicely for the past few days, but it was still sore. As was her jaw. "So here we are. Two demons dead, the threat of Acnologia gone for now, and all of us alive. And Lucy awake, thank goodness."

"I'm glad you two are safely home," Makarov said firmly, smiling warmly at the two. "It is certainly nice to have all of my brats together. I'm glad everyone is safe once again. I will admit; I was considering declaring you missing if you hadn't returned in the next few days, possibly...deceased because of the seriousness of the job you took."

Gajeel glared. "What, you think we're that stupid? Like we'd get-" He cut off, scowling, and Levy grimaced at his words. _Like we'd get ourselves killed._ That was completely untrue. She'd almost gotten herself killed in her fight with Chi, and Markarov was more than aware of that.

Makarov gave a chuckle, then waved towards the door. "Off you go. Go see Lucy and then go home and get some rest, you must be exhausted."

"Definitely," Levy agreed, giggling. For all of the seriousness Lily put forth, the Exceed was practically passed out on her head, looking rather adorable. She gently woke him, waving to Makarov, who led them out of the office. Gajeel kept close to her, and Levy didn't hesitate to lean against him with a yawn.

The second they were out of the room and Levy saw the exhausted blonde girl in the chair, Levy beamed and scrambled over as fast as she could after handing Lily to Gajeel. "Lucy!" she gasped, voice raspy from use. The tears rose and fell as she hugged her, and Lucy gave a huge smile before hugging her back, crying just as hard as she was.

When they finally parted, Levy laughed, giving her friend a smile. "We have quite the story for you," she told them both. Natsu was closeby, of course, watching them carefully. "And I think you might need to put it into a book, Lucy. But I need sleep, as do Lily and Gajeel. So I'll leave it at this: the demon's dead - we think. We're pretty sure we managed to kill it, or at least seal it-" She paused. Sealing it was definitely not what had happened; it had been in pieces when they left, so it was definitely dead. "So it won't be bothering anyone ever again. And we destroyed the dark mages controlling it, too."

Lucy's dark eyes snapped wide with astonishment. "There were...dark mages controlling it?"

"Yeah." Gajeel curled a lip in disgust. "Fuckers were hard to get, I'll tell you that. Had to take 'em all out at once after we figured that." Levy grimaced at his misuse of words. They hadn't exactly taken them all out at once, but...she supposed it was a close enough explanation.

"They were protecting the demon. We didn't realize how strong they were until we nearly got ourselves killed going after them the first time. We had to pull back and reconsider how we were going to go about the mission," Levy told them with a sigh, shaking her head.

Lucy frowned. "How did you know where they were…?"

"I'd been looking into the mark on your bag," the solid-script mage reported. "I found a few symbols, and then one day, a mission with one of them popped up onto the request board, so I spoke with Master about it. Gajeel had already agreed to go on a job with me because I was concerned about my lack of money," she snorted to herself at that, "So off we went. We left...what was it...a month ago maybe?" She glanced to her iron dragon slayer, tired eyes pleading.

"Bout that much time," he muttered.

"Oh!" Levy suddenly cried, excitedly clasping her hands together. "And you'll never guess what we found while we were looking for them...Natsu, you'll be pleased about this. We met with a dragon."

She didn't think she'd ever had the dragon slayer's attention so focused on her. Levy silently wandered how Lucy did it every day. "You _what_?"

"We met a dragon." Levy couldn't help but laugh.

"How?! The only one we've seen since our dragons disappeared is Acnologia!" He flailed his arms desperately.

Gajeel made a face, a flicker of grief flashing across his expression - one that nobody saw. "Was Metalicana...bastard decided to show up and make our lives a living hell for a while."

Natsu looked panicked, excited, and flustered all at the same time. "You saw Metalicana? What about Igneel?" His fingers tangled in his scaled scarf. "Did you see Igneel, tell?"

 _Maybe_ , Levy thought, remembering the creature she'd seen in the golden fields she'd lingered in for only moments. "No," she said, "But Metalicana told us that everything was alright, that he'd show up eventually." His frustration evident, Natsu gave a huff and she smiled warmly at him. Lucy squeezed his hand, searching his gaze, and he mumbled something. "Anyways, we need to go get some rest," Levy said. "I expect that book of yours finished and in my hands within the week, you hear me? You've made me wait long enough as it is." She winked playfully at her friend to show she didn't mean any rudeness.

"Okay," the celestial mage giggled. She leaned her head against Natsu as Levy grabbed Gajeel's arm with gentle hands and looked up at him before dragging him towards the doors of the guildhall.

"Come one," she told him, squeezing his arm. "I'm tired. And I think poor Lily there is going to pass out."

Damn, that little Exceed was freaking adorable, even with as powerful as he was.

Levy hummed as they walked through the streets of Magnolia, her hand still lightly grasping her iron dragon slayer's arm. He said nothing, and neither did she. They enjoyed each other's company, and Levy was more than aware of his gaze, which darted over to check on her every now and then.

A smile played along her lips at that. She knew without a doubt that life would be difficult for them, just like it would be hard on Natsu and Lucy for the next few months. Levy had physical healing to deal with, and they all had mental healing to go through. The demons and their fight had scarred all of them in different ways. Levy would have nightmares of Chi for years to come, Gajeel had lost his father a second time, even if he pretended he didn't care, and even Lily would dream of nearly losing them both.

Along with all of that, however, there was happiness and hope. Lucy had awoken from her endless nightmares, and the demons and the mages had been taken down - permanently, even if Levy hadn't enjoyed killing them. She knew Gajeel, Metalicana, and Lily hadn't liked the killing either, but it had saved them all alongside Fiore. Acnologia was delayed. Metalicana had promised that he'd return alongside the other dragons.

Sure, they'd all been to hell and back.

But as Levy paused in the doorway of Gajeel's home to clasp her hands over his cheeks and pull him down to kiss her, Lily clueless in his sleep, she knew it without a doubt.

Peace had come, even if it was for a short while.

Gajeel smirked against her lips, and he pulled back, only a breath away. Levy smiled warmly at him, refusing to relinquish her grasp on him. "I love you," she said softly, giggling when his eyes snapped wide with astonishment.

He grinned, however, a moment later, and pulled back to ruffle her wild blue hair with a large hand. "Gihi! 'Course ya do, woman." He couldn't bring himself to return the words even though he knew without a doubt that he felt the same. He hadn't yet earned the right to say such a thing to Levy McGarden.

And both were eager to meet the future that awaited them, side by side.

* * *

 _And...this is almost over. ;-; No worries, we still have one more chapter and the epilogue! ;) No reviews for last chapter, but thanks to those who favorited and followed!_


	12. Chapter 11

**. Shattered Reality .**

* * *

 _ **Five Years Later…**_

* * *

She couldn't sleep. She'd tried to sleep for hours upon hours, but she couldn't bring herself to, no matter how hard she tried, and it was annoying as hell.

So, with reluctance, Levy Redfox now found herself on the couch in the livingroom of the house that she shared with her husband, their daughter, and Lily, a book in her hand and a pout on her face as she glared at the words without reading them.

It wasn't like she didn't _want_ to sleep - because she did! She truly did! But the nightmares had been bad lately. Nowhere near as bad as her best friend's, of course, but they'd still been horrible enough to wake her with a scream bubbling up to her lips, barely stopped in time. And it certainly didn't help that Gajeel was gone on a job, earning money so that they could feed their daughter, a two year old girl by the name of Alexus.

So, Levy was left to deal with the terrors alone.

Setting her book aside, Levy tilted her head, contemplating what had happened since the cause of her nightmares for the first time in what must have been months...no, years. Since Alexus' birth.

Several things had happened, too many to mention in complete detail. Natsu and Lucy had married and were expecting their first child - who Natsu was determined to name Luigi for some reason or another. Levy had decided not to question the excited fire mage. Wendy had begun to date Romeo. She, Jet and Droy had agreed that the time of Team Shadowgear had ended. The two now worked as partners on jobs, and Lily had begun to take work by himself. A few others had gotten together or had kids, and they rarely saw Erza anymore, as the scarlet-haired woman was usually off with Jellal and Meredy.

The Grand Magic Games had come and gone a few times now, Fairy Tail always remaining on top - especially now that Sting couldn't compete. But Sabertooth _was_ always close behind, and remaining as friendly with them as ever. They visited every time they passed through, and Fairy Tail returned the favor alongside Mermaid Heel, Lamia Scale, and Blue Pegasus.

Life couldn't be better.

Sort of. Maybe it could, but what both she and Gajeel craved wasn't possible for a while. Years in the future, they suspected.

Levy sighed, setting her book aside. She wasn't getting any sleep tonight, but she wasn't going to be getting any reading done either, apparently…

So, Levy stood, set her glasses on the table beside the couch, and clicked off the lamp. She'd grab the sleeping Alexus and a few blankets, then take both herself and her daughter outside to watch the stars and doze on and off for a few hours. Maybe she'd be able to sleep then, and with her daughter in her bed, the nightmares would hopefully be driven away.

Levy made her way out of the small living room, heading for Alexus' room - and then stopped dead in her tracks as she heard a voice mumble, "-slayer magic. The snot-nosed little runt agreed, and let me tell ya, kid, first time I told him to chow down on some iron, he nearly lost it. Said I was stupid and that it was impossible." A pause. "...I shoved it down his throat."

Alexus' giggles filled the air, as if she perfectly understood what she was being told, and Levy snapped out of her shocked trance. Her heart pounding and her fear for her child being replaced by stunned astonishment and hope, she scrambled forward, hesitating only a moment before opening the door to Alexus' room.

Alexus' head snapped over, and her red eyes sparkled at the sight of her mother. "Momma!" she said happily from where she was sitting in the lap of a man who looked like he'd been caught in the middle of something he shouldn't have been doing. The window to the room was open, which was how Levy supposed he'd gotten in, and he'd abandoned a rippling cloak, leaving it on the ground beside him. Silvery hair stuck up at every angle, and his piercings gleamed in the moonlight, his sun-kissed skin turned pale. He was dressed just as shabbily as when they'd first met, and his red eyes glowed with amusement as he sat back, Alexus still perched happily in his lap, playing with her little iron dragon, which Gajeel had made for her the second he was sure she couldn't eat it.

"...hello, little one," Metalicana said sheepishly, sitting back and rubbing his head with a hesitant grin that showed off his fangs. "I apologize for breaking in. I didn't want to wake ya, and the, uh," he paused, as if struggling to come up with a nickname, "Smaller one was crying."

Levy gawked for a few moments, then breathed, "Metalicana...you're here? I thought it...but…" She was bewildered and speechless as she stared at him, tears rising to her eyes at the thought that this might not be real. Sure, she'd only known Metalicana for two weeks, but she loved the iron dragon. Gajeel's father was part of the family they'd created, even if he hadn't been present in it for very long.

Alexus giggled, accidentally dropping her toy, and Metalicana carefully scooped it back up, waiting until she'd grabbed it to gently pat her on the head. "The hatchling is quite smart. I'm happy she didn't inherit that sneaky little fucker's brains."

Despite the excitement flooding her, Levy scowled. "Don't use such language around my daughter, please. Gajeel's gotten the same talking and has managed to refrain from using it. I'm sure you can, too."

Metalicana smirked, flashing her a biting grin. "Little one still has some bite, eh?" he mused, snickering to himself. "Good to know. Now where's my brat? And the cat?"

"Working," Levy said firmly. She knelt down to take Alexus from his lap, propping her on one hip and tucking some of her dark hair behind her ear. "Someone has to earn money, and we have to feed Alexus here." She smiled warmly at Alexus, who gnawed on her toy.

The iron dragon hauled himself to his feet, snatching up his cloak and folding it over one arm. "I suppose."

"So...are you back?" Levy asked uncertainly. "For good? Gajeel would be happy, I think, even if he wouldn't show it...and what about the other dragons? And Mavis?"

"So many questions," Metalicana snorted, rolling his eyes before ruffling her blue hair after walking over. He affectionately touched little Alexus' cheek before answering with care. "Yes," he said. "The dragons have returned. All of them. Can't wait to see the look on Igneel's runt's face tomorrow morning when he wakes up to a dragon in the canal. Fu- uh, sucker thought it would be funny. Can we get there in a few hours? I wanna watch."

"I guess?" Levy giggled, eyes flashing with amusement at the thought of Natsu's endless energy that would result from this. She felt bad for poor Lucy, who would have to be the one to deal with him.

"As for Mavis...saw her about...two, nearly three years ago," he told her. "She was doin' fine." Metalicana flashed the solid-script mage a grin. "So stop frettin' and go get some sleep. You look exhausted, woman. I'll keep an eye on the smaller one if you want."

Levy pressed her lips together thoughtfully, then kissed Alexus a final time on the forehead, hoping it wasn't some trick so that her daughter could be kidnapped. "Alright," she finally agreed, "Just...come get me if something happens, okay?"

"Sure," he agreed, eagerly taking the two year old girl. She giggled, happily snuggling against him, and Levy gave the pair a warm look before heading towards her room. She paused to set a lacrima that would wake her about an hour before dawn, which was when Metalicana had decided they needed to leave if they wanted to see Natsu catch Igneel.

Levy flopped into the bed, throwing an arm over her eyes.

She _really_ hoped this wasn't a trick.

* * *

To say she was amused was putting it lightly, Levy decided as she watched Natsu practically rocket around the guildhall in his excitement, eager to start a fight with anyone and everyone, his onyx eyes sparkling. Lucy shook her head from her place at the bar, exasperated with her husband, and the man standing beside her watched with a smirk on his face, power radiating off of him in waves, just like it did from Metalicana and the older white-haired woman beside Wendy, who refused to take more than a step away from her mother.

The rest of the guild was kind of in shock, but it was funny.

The four year old Sutorimu giggled as Natsu lunged for her father, and Gray scowled before kicking him away.

"Gajeel should be home today, right, Levy?"

The solid-script mage glanced up at the sound of Lucy's voice. The tired blonde had made her way over, her hand patting her large stomach affectionately. Levy smiled to herself. Clearly, the baby was kicking if her wince was anything to go by. Amused after having already gone through it all herself, she said, "Yep. Any minute now, actually...he's going to be happy, I think."

Metalicana grunted as the girl in his arms accidentally knocked her head against his chin as she squirmed. "Daddy?" she said hopefully, and Levy giggled, patting her cheek.

"Soon," she promised. She searched Lucy's tired gaze, then said softly, "You were dreaming again, weren't you, Lu?"

"Yeah," she admitted, smiling tightly. "I don't think I'll ever stop dreaming about any of it, honestly...was a bit worse than normal, though. I'm thinking it's because of the dragons' reappearance. Their magic may have messed with any leftover magic from when-" She cut off, eyes dropping.

And, just like that, Natsu was there, dropping his chin onto her head and practically draping himself on her, arms thrown over her shoulders. The excitement was gone for now, replaced by concern. "You okay, Luce?"

"Yeah," she promised, patting his arm. "Just telling Levy about last night." She leaned back into him, reassuring the dragon slayer that she was alright.

"Probably was our magic," Metalicana admitted, then chided with a huff, "Careful, hatchling, you knock my chin again, you're gonna make my teeth fall out…" Alexus only giggled and patted his cheek with a small hand, copying her mother's earlier action. She mumbled something that sounded somewhat like his name, and the iron dragon's eyes flashed with warmth for the child. "S'powerful enough to do what we need it for, but sometimes, we can't keep it from influencing other magic."

"Lovely," Levy sighed. She'd be having nightmares for a while then, at least until they got used to the extra magic around… "Alexus," she added when the girl slapped Metalicana's cheek. "Be nice."

Alexus only giggled and slapped his cheek again.

Metalicana gave her a small little growl of warning, though he wore a grin to show her didn't mean it. He affectionately studied the toddler, then just as suddenly glanced up and said with a smirk, "Looks like my brat's come home."

Natsu sniffed at the air, as if not believing Metalicana, then tilted his head when Igneel's rumbling voice called his name. The dragon's eyes flashed with amusement. "Natsu, bring your mate over here and allow Metalicana to meet with his son without you in their business."

Lucy giggled when Natsu grumbled but did as he was told, following close behind him and Levy took her daughter from the iron dragon. He nearly pouted as he gave her up, but focused his attention on the guildhall's doors. The busy guildhall fell silent.

The doors were suddenly kicked in and Gajeel was there, wild dark hair kept out of his face by a headband Levy had created for him. His face was set in a dark scowl, and Lily rested on his shoulder with ease, startled as he took in the dragons.

Gajeel's narrowed red eyes were locked on one dragon and one dragon only. "...you fuckers are back?"

Metalicana snorted, glaring at him. "Language around your hatchling, brat, I don't believe your mate would be too happy if she started spouting such words." Levy scowled at the idea and muttered her agreement.

"Since when did you care about that?" he demanded.

Metalicana glanced towards Alexus, who was squirming, trying to get down so that she could get to her father. "Since you got a hatchling?" he said with a shrug, watching as Levy set Alexus down.

Alexus hobbled carefully on two legs over to Gajeel, who huffed and scooped her up into his arms, gruff look vanishing as he greeted, "Hey, Lex." He paused, then glared at everyone who was staring at him. "The hell you freaks staring at? Go back to whatever ya were doin'. Not like I haven't seen the sucker before."

Levy tried not to laugh as she made her way over to him, listening to the teasing shouts sent around the guildhall. Everyone was happy, and for the first time in a while, there was no sadness whatsoever.

Life had turned out good, Levy thought, standing on tiptoe to kiss him in greeting. She scooped Lily from his shoulder and hugged the Exceed in greeting as well, giggling when he muttered, "I'm not a cat, Levy, I'm an Exceed."

"You're huggable," she retorted.

Igneel rolled his eyes, and Levy had the distinct impression that Igneel didn't think much of a certain blue cat, who'd been chattering nonstop in his excitement over what had happened in the day.

Yes, life was definitely good. The dragons were back, and while Levy was sure they'd all have to go up against Acnologia someday, she was happy now.

Her hand clasped Gajeel's free one, and she squeezed it lightly, happy that her family was back together once more. He huffed softly, and Alexus hugged his face eagerly, mumbling, "Daddy!" Metalicana huffed, looking impatient from where he stood, wanting to hold Alexus again.

She was definitely happy.

* * *

 _So...last chapter. :D Sorry it was so late, kinda forgot about updating for some reason. |D Hope you enjoyed and thanks to my lovely reviewer (ilftnatsu) and those that favorited and followed! Look for the Epilogue on Monday!_

 _On another note, there is the possibility of a FOURTH in my little Shattered series. It'll be similar to Shattered Boundaries, but it'll show the others of Team Natsu's point of views! Wendy, Erza, Gray, and finally Natsu will be the focus of each of their chapters. It's not for certain yet, but it IS possible, so keep an eye out!_


	13. Epilogue

**. Shattered Reality .**

* * *

A warm breeze blew through the field, and the grass rippled, looking as if gold had been melted and turned into a meadow that nobody occupied. A section of the never-ending grass had been charred, and every now and then, there were sprinkles of a material that didn't belong, as if it had snowed ash and the ash had just never gone away. The sky was a beautiful blue, the sun shining and bright though not creating too much heat, which would have made the field's hidden occupants uncomfortable.

Suddenly, there was a shimmer as something fluttered, streaking through the air. Just as quickly as it had come, however, it was gone, and silence filled the empty air, just as it had for years upon years.

And then, disturbing the silence, there was an ear-shattering roar. A voice, a single voice, calling for another.

A head snapped up, dark hair tumbling around a beautiful round face. Icy eyes stared at the golden grass that surrounded her like a forest, a never ending jungle, and then filled with excitement. She stood swiftly, a white gown clothing her, rippling around her feet like a pool of pure starlight. Thin fingers grasped a stem of grass, and translucent wings shimmered at her back, sparkling and shining as she extended them, preparing to fly. She waited for a moment, listening.

The roar came again, this time louder. It was pained, lonely, as if it had been years since it had known companionship, and her eyes filled with grief as she realized it wasn't quite the person she had been waiting on. But still, it was someone to talk to.

Tucking a lock of dark hair behind her ear, she started forward, weaving through the stems of grass. Her body grew and grew until she was waist-deep in it rather than hidden, and her blue eyes scanned the field in search of the source of the noise.

When she found it, the source of the roar, she stopped and studied it.

It was clearly a dragon, though it wasn't _her_ metallic dragon. The creature was massive, larger than her's, but mournful, sad, and crazed with grief. She smiled warmly at it and moved closer until she stood before it, just as she had since coming to these golden fields. She gently touched its scales.

"I understand," she said simply when an eye opened to glare at her. Her voice had a lilt to it, as if she wasn't from the same land he came from, but the dragon said nothing, instead looking away.

She smiled gently, stroking the scales now. The dragon would stay until he was ready to move on, just as several others had before him. People, dragons, and even other fairies had passed through, yet she remained.

She would wait. She'd waited for so long, it was pointless to give in now. He'd come some day. She knew he now had a son to watch over, along with the son's wife and child. She knew what it was like to love a child, and she would _never_ hope that he left them before he was ready.

Yes, the queen of fairies would patiently wait for the iron dragon she'd grown to love more than her own existence, and until then?

What else was there to do but share another's grief?

* * *

 _And...the epilogue to Shattered Reality. :D I thank all of you reviewers (KaUiA, ilftnatsu, and Gothazon), and I thank of you that favorited and followed. I hope you enjoyed this little spin-off, and I encourage you to keep an eye out for the next and possibly final fic in the Shattered Series!_


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